Oct. 17, 2014
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Penn State men's tennis team began play at the ITA Atlantic Regional Championships on Friday. The tournament is hosted by the University of Virginia at the Snyder Tennis Center. The Nittany Lions enjoyed a successful day in the Doubles Main Draw as three pairs advanced to the Round of 16. Penn State also had three singles players advance and will have nine members competing in singles on Saturday.
Senior Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) and junior Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) combined for the first time this fall. The duo entered the tournament as the No. 4 overall seed in the draw. After a first round bye, Reilly and Stakhovsky knocked off Duquesne's Tim Kane and Harry Walshe, 8-6. The Nittany Lions advanced to Saturday's Round of 16, where they will meet George Washington's Cahit Kapukrian and Danil Zelenkov.
Sophomore Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) and junior Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) paired up to take on Temple's Hicham Belkssir and Nicolas Paulus in the doubles Round of 64. Laaribi and Trkulja earned an 8-6 win to advance to face James Madison's Miljan Ruzic and Sebastian Salinas in the next round. The Nittany Lion pair again came out on top with an 8-5 victory. The duo is now 4-0 this fall and will take on the top doubles seed, Virginia Tech's Andreas Bjerrehus and Amerigo Contini, on Saturday. Bjerrehus and Contini are ranked 17th in the ITA Poll.
Junior Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y. ) and sophomore Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) matched up against Old Dominion's Javier Jover Maestre and Carlos Lopez Villa, a top 16 seed, in the Round of 64. The Penn State pair claimed an 8-6 victory to move on to face Longwood's Alfonso Castellano and Steed Johnson. Barry and Fennell earned a dominant 8-1 win. The duo will take on Virginia's Luca Corinteli and Ryan Shane on Saturday in the Round of 16.
In another Round of 64 match, sophomores Nika Dolidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) and Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) faced Old Dominion's Darragh Glavin and Zvonomir Podvinsky. The Nittany Lion duo came out on top, 8-4. In the next round, they took on George Washington's Francisco Dias and Julius Tverijonas, the No. 2 overall seed and 34th in the ITA Poll. Dolidze and Lutschaunig dropped an 8-6 decision.
Sophomore Marc Collado Castells (Barcelona, Spain) and senior Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) competed against William & Mary's Will Juggins and Damon Niquet in the Round of 64. Collado Castells and Hanzlik fell 8-5.
The Nittany Lions had similar success in singles as three players advanced to the Round of 64. Six other Nittany Lions had first-round byes.
Reilly matched up against Georgetown's Daniel Khanin. The senior won a tough first set, 7-6. He then followed that up with a 6-3 win in the second set. Reilly takes on Radford's Patrick O'Keefe in the Round of 64.
In his first-round match, Collado Castells met VCU's Jacob Svensson. In a close opening set, Collado Castells came out on top, 7-5. Collado Castells continued his success in the second set, winning 6-4. The Barcelona native faces Virginia Tech's Aaron Gomez on Saturday.
Dolidze picked up his fourth win of the fall with a straight-set victory over William & Mary's Lars de Boer, 6-1, 6-2. The Tbilisi native matches up against Virginia Tech's Florian Nicoud.
Lutschaunig competed against William & Mary's Will Juggins. The sophomore dropped a 6-4, 6-3 result. On Saturday, Lutschaunig will take on George Mason's Aaron Capitel in a consolation match.
Barry, Fennell, Hanzlik, Laaribi, Stakhovsky and Trkulja all had first-round byes on Friday. Stakhovsky, the 3rd overall seed, faces William & Mary's Christian Cargill on Saturday.
Barry matches up against Duquesne's Corey Robinson, while Fennell meets UMBC's Alex Drean. Hanzlik will face Georgetown's Marco Lam and Laaribi will compete against Richmond's Alex Hahn. The Toronto native, Trkulja plays George Mason's Joe Hill.
Please check back to GoPSUSports.com throughout the weekend for more coverage of the Penn State men's tennis team. Updates are also available on our Facebook, Penn State Men's Tennis, and Twitter, @pennstateMTEN, pages.
ITA Atlantic Regional
Doubles:
Round of 64) Laaribi/Trkulja(PSU) def. Belkssir/Paulus(Tem), 8-6.
Barry/Fennell(PSU) def. Jover Maestre/Lopez Villa(ODU), 8-6.
Juggins/Niquet(W&M) def. Collado Castells/Hanzlik(PSU), 8-5.
Dolidze/Lutschaunig(PSU) def. Glavin/Podvinsky(ODU), 8-4.
Round of 32) Laaribi/Trkulja(PSU) def. Ruzic/Salinas(JMU), 8-5.
Barry/Fennell(PSU) def. Castellano/Johnson(LW), 8-1.
Reilly/Stakhovsky(PSU) def. Kane/Walshe(Duq), 8-6.
#34 Dias/Tverijonas(GW) def. Dolidze/Lutschaunig(PSU), 8-5.
Singles:
Round of 128) Michael Reilly(PSU) def. Daniel Khanin(GTown), 7-6, 6-3.
Marc Collado Castells(PSU) def. Jacob Svensson(VCU), 7-5, 6-4.
Nika Dolidze(PSU) def. Lars de Boer(W&M), 6-1, 6-2.
Will Juggins(W&M) def. Christian Lutschaunig(PSU), 6-4, 6-3.