UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 35 Penn State men's tennis will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. to compete in the 2019 Big Ten Tournament. The Nittany Lions will face the No. 6 seed Iowa on Friday, April 26 at 2 p.m. in the Quarterfinal round.
The Blue and White will enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed and with an 8-3 record in conference, tying a program-best from 2014.
"We can't wait to get to Ann Arbor," head coach Jeff Zinn said. "It is exciting when you a have a bunch of guys that work hard every day and want to see how good they can be. It is a big test for us and hopefully, we will pass with flying colors. All the teams in the Big Ten are strong and every round is going to be a battle. It will be fun to compete at this high of a level."
FOLLOW ALONG
LAST TIME OUT
Penn State ended its regular season on a high note with wins against then-No. 49 Indiana and Purdue last weekend. The team ended the regular season with an overall record of 18-7 and an 11-1 record at home.
The Nittany Lions won the doubles point and three singles matches, with two going unfinished, to defeat the Hoosiers, 4-1, at the Indoor Tennis Center.
The Blue and White then went on to defeat the Boilermakers on Senior Day, 4-3, with senior captain De La Bassetiere clinching the match to earn his second win of the weekend.
SCOUTING THE HAWKEYES
No. 42 Iowa swept the No. 11 seed Nebraska, 4-0, in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament to advance to the Quarterfinals.
Penn State was downed by Hawkeyes, 4-3, when the team traveled to Iowa City, Ia., earlier this season on Friday, April 5.
The Nittany Lions dropped the doubles point and pushed two matches to three sets on courts one and four, but it wasn't enough to come out with the victory.
The Hawkeyes won their last four matches to finish out the regular season including wins over then-No. 19 Michigan and Michigan State.
Iowa's roster features a lone ranked singles player in No. 112 Kareem Allaf. The redshirt junior boasts an 11-13 record this spring and a 2-7 record in the Big Ten with wins over De La Bassetiere and the Spartan's Jack Winkler.
The Hawkeye's roster also contains a ranked doubles pair in No. 87 Will Davies/Oliver Okonkwo. The duo is 15-6 overall this season and 6-2 in conference.
FULL IOWA RECAP
NEXT UP
If the Blue and White win their match in the Quarterfinals, they will face the winner of the No. 7 seed Northwestern/No. 10 seed Purdue and No. 2 seed Illinois in the Semifinal round.
FULL BIG TEN BRACKET AND MATCH SCHEDULE