UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 34 Penn State men's tennis improved to a 10-1 record at home with a 4-1 win over Indiana on Friday night at the Indoor Tennis Center.
The Nittany Lions now own a 17-7 overall record and a 7-3 record in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers are 13-10 on the season and 6-4 in conference.
"We knew it was going to be a tough match," head coach Jeff Zinn said. "We had a really good week of practice. Indiana came in and had nothing to lose and went for everything but we hung tough and played the big points very well. I feel good about Ben [Lieb] closing out the match, especially because he is a senior and these are some of his last matches. That will give us some good momentum heading into Sunday."
"Really proud of senior captain Ben Lieb for pulling out the win," Associate head coach Paul Tobin said. "Indiana played very well and it would have been close if we had to go the distance."
DOUBLES
Penn State won two of three doubles matches, with one going unfinished, to win the first point of the match.
Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario, Canada) and Christos Antonopoulos (Athens, Greece) got things started for the Nittany Lions with a win over Brandon Patrick Fletchall/Antonio Cembellin, 6-3.
Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) and Gabriel Nemeth (Brasilia, Brazil) clinched the doubles point for the Blue and White with a victory against No. 51 Brandon Lam/Carson Haskins, 6-4.
SINGLES
Penn State won three of six singles matches, with two going unfinished, to take the match win.
De La Bassetiere got the first singles win of the night for the Nittany Lions with a victory against #68 Cembellin, 6-3, 6-2. He is now 18-3 at the No. 1 singles position and 8-2 in the Big Ten.
The senior captain is also 10-1 over ranked opponents and has defeated the last eight he has faced.
Lakoseljac also picked up a win, defeating Bennett Crane, 6-3, 6-4. He now has 18 total wins on the season and is 8-2 in conference.
Ben Lieb (Newtown Square, Pa.) clinched the match for the Nittany Lions in a three-set battle over Haskins, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. He now has 13 overall wins this season as well as six Big Ten victories.
NEXT UP
The Blue and White will celebrate Senior Day during their match against Purdue on Sunday, April 21 at noon. Ceremonies are set to start after the match around 4 p.m.
Doubles results:
1. #34 Constant De La Bassetiere/Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) def. #51 Brandon Lam/Carson Haskins (IU) 6-4
2. Ben Lieb/Matt Galush (PSU) vs. Bennett Crane/Zac Brodney (IU) 5-5, unfinished
3. Christian Lakoseljac/Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) def. Patrick Fletchall/Antonio Cembellin (IU) 6-3
Singles Results:
1. #25 Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU) def. #68 Antonio Cembellin (IU) 6-3, 6-2
2. #101 Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) def. Bennett Crane (IU) 6-3, 6-4
3. Zac Brodney (IU) def. Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) 6-4, 6-2
4. Ben Lieb (PSU) def. Carson Haskins (IU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
5. Christos Antonopoulos vs. (PSU) Andrew Redding (IU) 3-6, 0-2, unfinished
6. Alp Sentay (PSU) vs. Vikash Singh (IU) 5-5, unfinished
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