Oct. 17, 2015
BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Penn State men's tennis team continued play at the ITA Regional Championships on Saturday. The Nittany Lions enjoyed another successful day in the Doubles Main Draw as two pairs advanced to the Round of 8. Penn State also had six singles players advance to the Round of 32 and will continue competing on Sunday.
The pair of Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) and Ben Lieb (Newtown Square, Pa.) advanced into the Round of 8 of the Doubles Main Draw after defeating Navy's Jones/Pecor 8-4 and James Madison's Stitt/Branth 8-7(5). They are joined in the Round of 8 by the pair of Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) and Zach Lieb (Newtown Square, Pa.) after they took down George Mason's Capitel/Moran 8-6 and Saint Joe's Mooiman/Urrea. The team of Marc Collado (Barcelona, Spain) and Nika Dolidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) dropped their match 8-6 to ninth seed Kononv/Svaard (UMBC).
Out of the 128 doubles teams playing, Jeff Zinn's Nittany Lions have two of the eight teams advancing to play on Sunday. Penn State was dominant in their singles draws today. Six players will advance to play on Sunday.
Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) defeated the 17th seed Aziz K Kijametovic (ODU) in a 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 match. B.Lieb won over Freddy Mesmer (VT) with a 6-3, 7-6(5) final score. Laaribi came out of a three-set match victorious against Rob Stirling (JMU). The score on that was 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 for Laaribi. David Kohan (Sydney, Australia) dropped his singles match 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 to the seventh seed Catalin Fifea(VCU).
The quick wins for the Nittany Lions started with Collado and his 6-2, 6-1 match against Benedikt Henning(Norfolk St). Hanzlik continued with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Michiel Meekers(Radford). Senior Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) wrapped up the day with a 6-1, 6-3 match against Hampton's Matthew Foster-Estwick.
"Overall, it was a great day for the boys. We started off strong in all positions and kept the momentum going throughout the day," said Assistant Coach Paul Tobin, "I think the cold weather here ended up playing in our favor. The seeded players had some quick, routine matches. Sunday will prove to be a bigger challenge."
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 Regionals
Doubles (Round of 32 & 16):
(32) Laaribi/B.Lieb(PSU) def. Jones/Pecor(Navy), 8-4.
(16) Laaribi/B.Lieb(PSU) def. Stitt/Branth(JMU), 8-7(5).
(32) Kononv/Svaard(UMBC) def. Collado/Dolidze(PSU), 8-6.
(32) Hanzlik/Z.Lieb(PSU) def. Capitel/Moran(GM), 8-6.
(16) Hanzlik/Z.Lieb(PSU) def. Moolman/Urrea(SJU), 8-6.
Singles (Round of 64):
Christian Lutschaunig(PSU) def. Aziz Kijametovic(ODU), 6-1, 2-6, 6-2.
Catalin Fifea(VCU) def. David Kohan(PSU), 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.
Ben Lieb(PSU) def. Freddy Mesmer(VT), 6-3, 7-6(5).
Marc Collado(PSU) def. Benedikt Henning(Norfolk St), 6-2, 6-1.
Tomas Hanzlik(PSU) def. Michiel Meekers(Radford), 6-3, 6-2.
Aws Laaribi(PSU) def. Rob Stirling(JMU), 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Matt Barry(PSU) def. Matthew Foster-Estwick(Hampton), 6-1, 6-3.
Singles Consolation Round:
Zach Lieb(PSU) def. Justin Carter(UMBC), 6-4, 7-6(10).
Matt Galush(PSU) def. Mateo DeSomocurcio(MSM), 6-3,6-3.
Chris Reynolds(GW) def. Nika Dolidze(PSU), 6-2, 7-6(4).