UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State men's tennis (6-8, 6-8 B1G) will host its two final matches of the regular season against No. 30 Michigan (13-2, 13-1 B1G) on Friday, April 16 and Michigan State (5-11, 5-9 B1G) on Sunday, April 18. The respective matches are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. and noon. Penn State will honor five seniors on Sunday in the Sarni Tennis Center for Senior Day.
"We are hosting our last two home matches this weekend and it has come too fast," head coach Jeff Zinn said. "By that, I mean it hits home that it will be Senior Weekend. These tremendous young men will be honored on Sunday for all they have meant to Penn State, our team and coaching staff. We want to finish this portion of the season on a high note and will give everything we have for our seniors and I know they will do the same for their brothers."
FOLLOW ALONG
Michigan: Live stats
Michigan State: Live stats
LAST TIME OUT
Penn State split road matches at Indiana and Purdue last weekend. In a 4-1 loss to the Hoosiers, Miko Eala provided the sole victory at No. 3, taking it in straight sets against Carson Haskins 6-2, 6-1.
Less than 24 hours later, the Nittany Lions rebounded with a dominant 5-2 win at Purdue. Despite losing the doubles point, Penn State won on five singles courts to lock in its sixth win of the year. Eala came up strong once again and clinched the match in a 6-2, 7-6(6) win over Michal Wozniak, improving to 9-5 in singles play.
INSIDE THE WOLVERINES
Michigan holds the second-best record in the conference at 13-1. The Wolverines have rallied off five-straight wins after falling to Big Ten West Division title champion Illinois in March.
The Wolverines have the 36th-ranked doubles team in the country in Andrew Fetty and Mattias Siimar. The pair currently has a 11-3 record this season, including a 6-3 mark at the top spot in the lineup.
Michigan defeated the Nittany Lions by a final score of 6-1 in Ann Arbor in the first matchup this season. At No. 6, Tim Ruetzel put the point on the board for the Nittany Lions as he defeated Jacob Bickersteth 4-6, 6-2, 10-6.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
The Spartans are 5-9 in the Big Ten and are facing a three-match losing skid, falling to Indiana and Michigan twice in that span. Michigan State travels to the 26th-ranked Buckeyes on Friday before visiting Penn State.
Michigan State has the No. 47 doubles team of Nick Williams and Kazuki Matsuno, posting a 5-5 record at the No. 1 spot this season.
Penn State earned its first road win of the season with a 5-2 victory over the Spartans in East Lansing. After trailing 1-0 in doubles play, five Nittany Lions won in singles to secure the comeback. The Nittany Lions have not lost to Michigan State since 2016, tallying six consecutive wins.
SENIOR SUNDAY
Penn State will honor Christos Antonopoulos, Chris Kuhnle, Christian Lakoseljac, Tim Ruetzel and Alp Sentay on Sunday. With a doubles win this weekend, Lakoseljac will climb to No. 10 all-time in career doubles wins (66) at Penn State.
UP NEXT
The 2021 Big Ten Men's Tennis Championship begins Thursday, April 29 and will be hosted by the University of Nebraska.
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.