EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 35 Penn State men's tennis finished its four-match road stretch win a win over Northwestern,
The Nittany Lions now have a 16-7 overall record as well as a 6-3 Big Ten record. The Wildcats now stand with 13-12 overall record and a 4-5 record in conference.
"We needed a split this weekend after the heartbreaker friday night, and we played a very good Northwestern team today," head coach Jeff Zinn said. "They have some very good wins this spring against Harvard and Duke, which are two very good teams, so we knew this would be a tough one especially on their courts. I cannot say enough about our senior leadership. They have been exemplary this spring and really the whole four years they have been here. I do not want to think about next weekend being their last home match at Penn State. We need to have a great weekend to send our seniors out on the right note."
"This was a huge win for the guys and a great weekend," associate head coach Paul Tobin said. "Indoors, our doubles pairs are solid, but we must transition better to outdoors if we are going to take down Indiana and Purdue at home this weekend. Every player in the Big Ten is good, and rankings don't matter when two guys are battling it out."
DOUBLES
Penn State won two of three matches, with one going unfinished, to claim the doubles point.
Matt Galush (Cary, N.C.) and Ben Lieb (Newtown Square, Pa.) earned the win over Antonioni Fasano/Trice Pickens, 6-4. The pair is now 12-4 at the No. 2 spot in the lineup.
Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario, Canada) and Christos Antonopoulos (Athens, Greece) clinched the point for the Nittany Lions with a victory against Simen Bratholm/Ben Vandixhorn, 6-4. The duo now owns 10 total wins.
SINGLES
Penn State won three of six singles matches, with one going unfinished, to secure its sixth Big Ten victory.
Lakoseljac got things started for the Nittany Lions in singles competition, with a win over Antonioni Fasano, 6-0, 6-4. He now has 17 total wins on the season with six victories in the Big Ten.
Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) earned his second win of the weekend, with a victory against Dominik Stary, 7-6 (2), 6-4. He now owns a 17-3 overall record as well as seven wins in conference.
Antonopoulos also earned his second "W" of the weekend with a victory over Trice Pickens, 6-4, 6-7 (8), 6-3. He now has 12 total wins this season and five victories in the Big Ten.
NEXT UP
The Blue and White will return to Happy Valley to finish off their season against Indiana and Purdue.
Doubles results:
1. #19 Constant De La Bassetiere/Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) vs. Chris Ephron/Dominik Stary (NW) 5-4, unfinished
2. Ben Lieb/Matt Galush (PSU) def. Antonioni Fasano/Trice Pickens (NW) 6-4
3. Christian Lakoseljac/Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) def. Simen Bratholm/Ben Vandixhorn (NW) 6-4
Singles Results:
1. #37 Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU) def. Dominik Stary (NW) 7-6 (2), 6-4
2. #105 Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) def. Antonioni Fasano (NW) 6-0, 6-4
3. Chris Ephron (NW) def. Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) 6-4, 5-7, 6-1
4. Ben Lieb (PSU) vs. Simen Bratholm (NW) 6-3, 6-7 (6), 5-2, unfinished
5. Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) Trice Pickens (NW) 6-4, 6-7 (8), 6-3
6. Jason Seidman (NW) def. Alp Sentay (PSU) 6-4, 6-3
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.