UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – It has been nearly 11 months since the Penn State men's tennis team last competed on the court. However, the wait is over as the Big Ten announced the highly anticipated 2021 schedule for its member institutions. Penn State's schedule features 16 conference matches with seven at home and nine on the road. Last year, the Nittany Lions went 7-6 overall and 7-2 at home in a shortened season.
Nine Nittany Lions return from last season, including the team's dominant duo in Christian Lakoseljac and Christos Antonopoulos, who were recently ranked No. 40 in the ITA Preseason Doubles Rankings. Penn State adds three transfers and four freshmen to this year's team.
Penn State opens its Big Ten slate with seven of its first nine conference matches on the road. The Nittany Lions start their season Feb. 19 at Illinois and Feb. 21 at Northwestern. The following weekend, Penn State will travel to Ohio State on Feb. 27 for its third consecutive road matchup.
"The Big Ten schedule is going to be a rollercoaster ride with so many away matches," head coach Jeff Zinn said. "I like away matches because the team bonds more on the road and becomes closer as a group. Hopefully, that theory remains true because we will be tested right off the bat."
Penn State returns to Happy Valley to host a two-game home stand against Indiana (March 6) and Purdue (March 7) before competing in four straight road matches. In week four, the Nittany Lions head to Michigan (March 13) and Michigan State (March 14) followed by trips to Wisconsin (March 19) and Minnesota (March 21).
Penn State welcomes Iowa on March 26 along with Nebraska on March 28. To open up April, the Nittany Lions host Ohio State (April 4) before heading back on the road for a pair of matches against Indiana on April 10 and Purdue on April 11.
In an action-packed weekend, Michigan (April 16) and Michigan State (April 18) visit Happy Valley to close out the 2021 spring schedule.
"I can't tell you how excited I am that we finally have a schedule put together," associate head coach Paul Tobin said. "There have been some challenging times and it is great to see we are moving forward. Guys are practicing hard, but unfortunately they haven't had much competition experience so we need to jump right into it."
Check GoPSUSports.com for coverage of the Penn State men's tennis team during the season. Follow the team on Twitter @pennstateMTEN, Instagram @pennstatemtennis and on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstatemenstennis.