UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – In its first Big Ten road test of the season, No. 42 Penn State will travel to East Lansing, Mich. to face Michigan State (5-10) on Saturday, March 16. The match is slated for 4 p.m. and will be in Michigan State's Indoor Tennis Facility.
The Nittany Lions will look to improve from their 7-5 record with a win over the Spartans.
"It's always tough to go on the road in the Big Ten and this is no exception," said head coach Jeff Zinn. "Michigan State is a tough place to play and they have a tremendous fan base. We will have to be playing our best to pull out a victory and I'm hoping our guys are up to the challenge."
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LAST TIME OUT
Penn State traveled to Orlando, Fla. to compete in the USTA National Campus Collegiate Series. The Nittany Lions took on Florida Gulf Coast Wednesday, March 6 before facing UCF Friday, March 8.
The Nittany Lions earned their first shutout victory of the year over Florida Gulf Coast, 7-0, dominating in both doubles and singles play.
The Blue and White went on to suffer a tough loss to UCF, 4-3. Although they started out strong winning the doubles point, the NIttany Lions couldn't win enough singles matches to collect the victory.
No. 101 Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) continued his success, going undefeated throughout the team's time in Florida. Highlighting the weekend was De La Bassetiere's win over No. 18 Gabriel Decamps of UCF, 6-4, 6-2. His performance during the series earned him Big Ten Athlete of the Week for the first time in his career.
The senior captain now sits with an 8-2 record at the No. 1 singles position and 7-4 record at the No. 1 doubles position partnered with Gabriel Nemeth (Brasilia, Brazil). He has won eight of his last 10 singles matches.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
Michigan State has lost their last six matches, with the most recent defeat coming at the hands of Drake, 4-3.
The Spartans' roster features a lone ranked singles player, No. 91 Jack Winkler, who has a 8-5 singles record at the No. 1 spot and a 5-7 overall doubles record.
Penn State has an all-time record of 24-12 against Michigan State. The teams last met in the 2018 season when the Nittany Lions secured the 5-1 victory.
NEXT UP
Penn State will host three matches against Michigan on Friday, March 22 at 5 p.m. and then Cornell and James Madison in a double header on Sunday, March 24 at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.
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.