November 4, 2016 - UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; The Big Ten Indoor Championships began today for the Penn State men's tennis team. The Lions had eight players travel to Madison, Wis. for the final tournament of the fall season. Competition is being held in the Nielsen Tennis Stadium at the University of Wisconsin.
Today featured both singles and doubles play, beginning with doubles in the morning. Four teams in blue and white took the courts to battle with other pairs from the conference. Seniors Nika Dolidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) and Marc Collado (Barcelona, Spain) partnered in this tournament. Also a senior, Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) paired with sophomore Matt Galush (Cary, N.C.). David Kohan (Sydney, Australia), also a senior, partnered with sophomore Henry Gordon (New Braunfels, Tx.). Sophomore brothers Zach Lieb (Newtown Square, Pa.) and Ben Lieb (Newtown Square, Pa.) combined to form the fourth doubles team for the Lions today. Each of these four pairs found success in the first round of matches, save for Lutschaunig and Galush who received a bye. During the second round of doubles, the blue and white struggled to produce the desired results and will close out the fall doubles season today.
Several Lions saw time on the court during the singles matches in the afternoon today. The blue and white presented a challenge for players from several teams within the Big Ten. Nika Dolidze battled with Zac Brodney from Indiana in his first round of singles play and came out on top 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. During his second singles match of the day Dolidze was up against Nebraska's Toby Boyer, but dropped the match by a retired 6-2, 4-3 result. Matt Galush faced Dylan Bednarczyk from Nebraska in the first round and defeated him with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) result. In the second round, Galush faced Alex Kobelt from Ohio State and was again triumphant in a 6-1, 6-3 win. With this victory, Galush will advance to the round of 16.
"I am really pleased with how well Matt Galush played today," said head coach Jeff Zinn. "He stepped his game up and played like I thought he could and he needs to keep it up during tomorrow's matches. Nika Dolidize also played well in both his doubles and singles matches. We lost some close ones today and that needs to change tomorrow. We need to battle harder when it's crunch time."
"Matt Galush did a nice job getting to the round of 16 today," said associate head coach Paul Tobin. "The competition is a lot better than previous years and the depth in each team is getting stronger. We still have two days of competition left so we can work out the kinks."
Big Ten Indoor Championship play will resume tomorrow and conclude on Monday, November 7. Follow GoPSUsports and our social media pages for tournament updates throughout the weekend!
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