UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State men's tennis (2-3, 2-3 B1G) is set for a pair of road matches this weekend and will square off against No. 13 Michigan (4-1, 4-0 B1G) on Saturday, March 13 and Michigan State (2-4, 2-2 B1G) on Sunday, March 14 at noon.
"We are road warriors again but we have some momentum behind us with our two wins over the weekend," head coach Jeff Zinn said. "We have had a great week of practice in the warm weather this week. Michigan is a Top 10 team and we need to bring our Top 10 game to their center. "
FOLLOW ALONG
Michigan: Live stats
Michigan State: Live stats
LAST TIME OUT
After a tough stretch falling to three Top 25 opponents, the Nittany Lions bounced back with two home wins against Indiana and Purdue.
On Saturday, the Hoosiers walked away with the doubles point, but four Nittany Lions secured singles wins to lock in the team's first conference win of the season. In a tight contest with the Hoosiers, senior Tim Ruetzel sealed the 4-3 match for the Nittany Lions as he swept Michael Andre 6-2, 6-4.
Against Purdue, the Nittany Lions dominated in a 6-1 victory. Penn State clinched its first doubles point of the year with the help of doubles teams Christos Antonopoulos/Alp Sentay and Miko Eala/Sam Bossem.
The Nittany Lions carried that momentum into singles play as Charl Morgan, Tim Ruetzel and the freshmen trio of Miko Eala, Sam Bossem and Bora Sengul all won their respective matches against the Boilermakers. Eala improved to 4-1 in singles while Bossem and Sengul both earned their first collegiate win.
INSIDE THE WOLVERINES
Michigan suffered its lone loss to No. 2 Baylor in the team's season opener. Since then, the Wolverines have won four consecutive matches to remain undefeated in conference play and sit atop of the Big Ten standings with Ohio State.
The Wolverines have the No. 2-ranked doubles team in the country in Andrew Fetty and Mattias Siimar. The pair currently has a 3-1 record at the top spot in the lineup this season.
Michigan's roster also features three ranked singles players. Fenty holds the team's highest ranking at No. 12, followed by No. 28 Ondrej Styler and No. 83 Connor Johnston.
Penn State and Michigan have split the last two matches, with Michigan earning the most recent 5-0 win last season in Ann Arbor.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
In the team's season opener, Michigan State suffered two shutouts in a doubleheader with the Buckeyes. However, the two duals did not count as conference matches. On Friday, March 12, the Spartans play No. 7 Ohio State for the third time before Penn State comes to town on Sunday.
Michigan State's two conference wins are over Minnesota and Purdue while Wisconsin and Indiana handed the Spartans their two Big Ten losses.
The Nittany Lions have the upperhand in the overall series with a 25-12 all-time advantage. Penn State looks to extend its five-match winning streak against the Spartans.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will complete their four match road trip with contests at Wisconsin on Friday, March 19 and Minnesota on Sunday, March 21.
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.