University Park, Pa. – Penn State men's tennis (7-4, 0-1 B1G) will host No. 18 Princeton (11-4) on Friday, March 6 at 4 p.m. at the Indoor Tennis center before going on the road to take on Big Ten rival No. 5 Ohio State (13-3) on Sunday, March 8 at noon.
"We're going to go through a gauntlet in the next couple weeks facing so many highly-ranked teams," head coach Jeff Zinn said. "We have to be ready for it. We have to play to the level of the competition. That is what we have been trying to work on, getting better every day in practice. We have to keep our level of play at a high level."
LAST TIME OUT
In their last outing, the Nittany Lions traveled to Ann Arbor, Mich. to take on the then-No. 5-ranked Wolverines.
After losing the doubles point, Michigan won on the last four singles courts to solidify their victory in the Varsity Tennis Center.
Freshman Charl Morgan defeated then-No. 17 Andrew Fenty in the first set on court two, 7-6 (5) and then tied it up in the second at 2-2, before the match went unfinished.
Christian Lakoseljac's match against then-No. #32 Ondrej Styler on court one also went unfinished after they each won a set, 3-6, 6-5.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Princeton's lineup features two ranked singles players in No. 113 Karl Poling and No. 124 Ryan Seggerman.
Poling is 7-1 so far this spring, with his only loss coming against then-No. 59 Ronan Jachuck of Harvard, 6-4, 6-7, 3-6.
The Tigers' roster also boasts two ranked doubles pairs in the No. 16 pair of Payton Holden and Seggerman and No. 66 duo of Justin Barki and Thomas Basancic.
Princeton has the all-time advantage over the Nittany Lions, with a 16-7 record.
INSIDE THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State is coming off a three-match slump, with losses against then-No. 5 North Carolina, Georgia and Standford.
The Buckeyes have a very talented lineup containing four ranked singles players including No. 13 John McNally, No. 14 Cannon Kingsley, No. 26 Kyle Seelig and No. 78 James Trotter.
When the two programs met last season in Happy Valley, Lakoseljac defeated then-No. 30 McNally in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1.
The Buckeyes also have two ranked doubles teams in No. 3 Robert Cash and McNally and No. 65 Trotter and Boulais.
The returning Big Ten Champions are 24-6 all-time against Penn State.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions will hit the west coast to take part in the San Diego Shakedown Tournament on Saturday, March 15 to March 16, with San Diego, Arizona and Texas Tech.
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, follow our twitter @pennstateMTEN and our Instagram @PSUMTEN.