University Park, Pa. – Penn State men's tennis made a strong statement in its home opener, defeating Charlotte, 6-1. The win helped the Nittany Lions improve to a 4-2 record while the 49ers fell to a 3-5 record.
"Charlotte played us very closely." head coach Jeff Zinn said. "Hats off to Jeremy Feldman, their head coach, he's built a great team. We got some good breaks our way and I thought we played well when it counted. I think we deserved the win because we fought through adversity."
"Scouting Charlotte, we knew this was going to be a battle," associate head coach Paul Tobin said. "Our guys knew how important this match was and they stepped up. Taking the doubles point was huge."
DOUBLES
Penn State went 2-1 in doubles, to start off the match 1-0. Getting things going for the Nittany Lions, the duo of Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario, Canada) and Christos Antonopoulos (Athens, Greece) picked up a win over Lieberman/Menezes, 6-3. To clinch the match for the Blue and White, Ben Lieb (Newtown Square, Pa.) and Matt Galush (Cary, N.C.) came up with a strong win over Wayand/De Rueda, 6-4.
SINGLES
Penn State's singles lineup played extremely well, winning five of six matches. At the No. 1 spot Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) defeated Luca Keist in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (3). Gabriel Nemeth (Brasilia, Brazil) followed with his own win over Benjamin Wayand, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-4. Lakoseljac rounded out the top three spots with a win at No. 2 over Ignasi De Rueda, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Lieb and Alp Sentay (Izmar, Turkey) also chipped in wins. Lieb earned a dominant victory, 6-2, 6-0, over Henry Lieberman. Sentay took Leonardo Menezes into three sets and came out with the win, 3-6, 6-4, 10-4.
UP NEXT
Penn State will travel to take on Princeton Sunday, Feb. 10 at 11:00 a.m.
Doubles results:
1. Keist/Christoforou (CHA) def. De La Bassetiere/Nemeth (PSU) 6-4
2. Lieb/Galush (PSU) def. Wayand/Ignasi De Rueda (CHA) 6-4
3. Lakoseljac/Antonopoulos (PSU) def. Lieberman/Menezes (CHA) 6-3
Singles results:
1. De La Bassetiere (PSU) def. Keist (CHA) 6-3, 7-6 (3)
2. Lakoseljac (PSU) def. Ignasi De Rueda (CHA) 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3
3. Nemeth (PSU) def. Wayand (CHA) 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-4
4. Christoforou (CHA) def. Antonopoulos (PSU) 7-5, 6-2
5. Sentay (PSU) def. Menezes (CHA) 3-6, 6-4, 10-4
6. Lieb (PSU) def. Lieberman (CHA) 6-2, 6-0
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