University Park, Pa. – Freshmen Chikaya Sato and Andrei Paduraru will join the Penn State men's tennis roster as they head into the fall season. The newcomers will round out the eight-man lineup led by seniors Christos Antonopoulos, Christian Lakoseljac, Gabriel Nemeth and Noah Sutter.
The team graduated five seniors at the end of a historic spring season in Constant De La Bassetiere, Matt Galush, Ben Lieb, Zach Lieb and student coach Henry Gordon.
Sato comes to Happy Valley as a five-star recruit with a great deal of junior experience; playing in the Orange Bowl, Easter Bowl and Kalamazoo as well as many other tournaments.
The Tokyo-native moved to New Jersey when he was 10-years old. He attended Cresskill High School where he was crowned the Bergen County Singles Champion and North Jersey Player of the Year during his last three years. Sato was also a state finalist his junior year and named to the First Team All-State team his senior year.
Paduraru comes into his freshman year as a Nittany Lion from Walled Lake, Michigan. He was a four-year varsity letterman and two-year captain during his time at Walled Lake Central High School.
Paduraru played at the No. 1 singles spot throughout his high school career and advanced to the semifinal round his senior year in the state tournament.
"I'm very excited about our incoming freshmen this year," head coach Jeff Zinn said. "They are both great junior players and are coming in with a lot of USTA experience. They're getting a lot of exposure to college tennis this fall and a good look at what's coming in the spring."
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.
