UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) earned his second Big Ten Athlete of the Week award of the season as well as an ITA singles ranking of No. 44.
De La Bassetiere is the first Nittany Lion to earn consecutive weekly Big Ten awards since Leonard Stakhovsky did it in the 2015 season. The only other player this season to earn back-to-back conference honors is No. 1 JJ Wolf of Ohio State.
This is also Penn State's fourth Big Ten Athlete of the Week accolade of the season and its third in a row, a feat no team has accomplished since Minnesota in the 2014 season.
De La Bassetiere's ITA ranking of No. 44 in the nation marks the first time a Penn State singles player has cracked the top-50 list since Stakhovsky achieved the honor on Feb. 10, 2016.
"It is always a huge honor to get Big Ten Athlete of the Week and be ranked in the top-50 in the nation," De La Bassetiere said. "I think it is a reflection of the hard work the whole team has been putting in and we need to keep going. Especially with the big weekend ahead."
CONSTANT SUCCESS
De La Bassetiere earned the praise from the Big Ten and the ITA following his dominant play this past weekend, defeating No. 91 Jack Winkler of Michigan State, 6-2, 6-4. He is now 9-2 at the No. 1 singles position for the Blue and White.
The senior captain is now 4-1 over ranked opponents this season, including wins over No. 26 Mitch Harper of Virginia Tech, No. 70 Luca Keist of Charlotte and No. 18 Gabriel Decamps of UCF.
De La Bassetiere has won his last three matches and eight of his last 10. He has also secured victories in eight out of nine wins in just two sets.
NITTANY LIONS IN THE RANKINGS
Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario, Canada) also stayed in the singles rankings at No. 116. He is now 10-2 at the No. 2 singles spot, sporting the best record on the team. He has also won his last six matches and eight of his last 10. The junior has secured seven of his 10 wins in straight sets. Lakoseljac is 1-1 against ranked opponents, including a win over No. 114 Rafael Wagner of LSU to clinch the Jerry Simmons Invitational for the Nittany Lions.
The duo of De La Bassetiere and Gabriel Nemeth (Brasilia, Brazil) earned the No. 11 spot in doubles rankings. The pair has a record of 7-4 in the No. 1 doubles slot, and has won their last four contests. The tandem has defeated one other ranked pair in No. 45 Finbar Talcott/Tristan Bautil of William & Mary.
Penn State jumped up from last week from No. 49 to No. 47 in team rankings following its shutout win over Michigan State, in which the squad easily took the doubles point and secured five of six singles win in two sets.
FULL ITA SINGLES RANKINGS
FULL ITA DOUBLES RANKINGS
FULL ITA TEAM RANKINGS
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.
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