Baton Rouge, La. – At the completion of day one at the Jerry Simmons Invitational, Penn State men's tennis collected two strong wins against the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 4-3, and USF, 4-2, to propel itself into the championship match against LSU. The match is set to take place at 1 p.m. EST, indoors at the LSU Tennis Complex.
ULL Matches
The Nittany Lions started with singles play, collecting three strong wins. Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario, Canada) got the first win against Jan Galka, 6-2, 6-3. Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) followed with a victory over Pearse Dolan in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0. Christos Antonopoulos (Athens, Greece) added the final singles win against Louisiana, defeating Marko Vujic, 6-2, 6-4.
In doubles, finishing first was the duo of Ben Lieb (Newtown Square, Pa.) and Matt Galush (Cary, N.C.) with a win over Galka/Dworak, 6-4. The top-ranked pair of De La Bassetiere and Gabriel Nemeth (Brasilia, Brazil) then earned a dominating win over Dolan/Libaud, 6-2, to clinch the doubles point along with the win for the Blue and White.
"So glad we squeezed that win out," associate head coach Paul Tobin said. "The guys were pumped going into doubles and they knew they had to step up. Great job by Louisiana, fighting back and getting to doubles."
Singles results:
1. De La Bassetiere (PSU) def. Dolan (ULL) 6-4, 6-0
2. Lakoseljac (PSU) def. Galka (ULL) 6-2, 6-3
3.Lago (ULL) def. Nemeth (PSU) 7-6 (10-8), 6-0
4. Antonopoulos (PSU) def. Vujic (ULL) 6-2, 6-4
5. Libaud (ULL) def. B. Lieb (PSU) 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
6. Fraser (ULL) def. Sentay (PSU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
Doubles results:
1. #1 De La Bassetiere/Nemeth (PSU) def. Dolan/Libaud (ULL) 6-2
2. B. Lieb/Galush (PSU) def. Galka/Dworak (ULL) 6-4
3. Lakoseljac/Antonopoulos (PSU) vs. Vujic/Lago (ULL) 5-5, unfinished
USF Matches
Penn State started off strong with doubles play, earning the point. First to finish was Lakoseljac and Antonopoulos, who got the win against Yatsuk/Burnette, 6-2. To clinch the point once again, the No. 1 pair of De La Bassetiere and Nemeth defeated Barroso-Campos/Wojcik, 6-4.
In singles, the Blue and White seized three wins to clinch the match and punch their ticket to the championship round. Alp Sentay (Izmar, Turkey) got the first win against Sergio Gomez-Montesa, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Nemeth followed with his own win in straight sets against Jakub Wojcik 7-6 (9-7), 6-4. Antonopoulos clinched the win for the Nittany Lions, with a victory over Pierre Luquet, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
"Our boys battled so hard today and represented Penn State at the highest level," head coach Jeff Zinn said. "We have a veteran team and it showed today in every way. They experienced a high level of competition in both matches but were able to calm their nerves and do what we do everyday in practice. We are going to have to play at that level again if we have any chance of beating LSU in the finals. I know we will give everything we have left to give."
"What a huge win for the team," Tobin said. "I am so proud of the way these guys hung in there after being down a set on three different courts. Taking the doubles point was huge, and we got that momentum from our doubles win in the first match."
Singles results:
1. #43 Barroso-Campos (USF) def. De La Bassetiere (PSU) 6-4, 6-4
2. Ferguson (USF) def. Lakoseljac (PSU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
3. Antonopoulos (PSU) def. Luquet (USF) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
4. Nemeth (PSU) def. Wojcik (USF) 7-6 (9-7), 6-4
5. B. Lieb (PSU) vs. Yatsuk (USF) 5-7, 6-2, 5-5, unfinished
6. Sentay (PSU) def. Gomez-Montesa (USF) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
Doubles results:
1. #1 De La Bassetiere/Nemeth (PSU) def. Barroso-Campos/Wojcik (USF) 6-4
2. B. Lieb/Galush (PSU) $$ Ferguson/Luquet (USF) 5-5, unfinished
3. Lakoseljac/Antonopoulos (PSU) def. Yatsuk/Burnette (USF) 6-2
Keep up with the Penn State men's tennis team at GoPSUsports.com. For continued updates throughout the year, make sure to `like' our Facebook page at Penn State Men's Tennis and follow our twitter @pennstateMTEN.