February 12, 2017 - UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; The Penn State men's tennis team dominated Bucknell in their final match of the weekend this evening at the Indoor Tennis Center concluding a three-match weekend. The Lions went three for three in their matches this weekend, with back-to-back shut out wins today.
The Lions eased past Bucknell this evening to win the doubles point with wins on all three courts for the second time today. Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.) and Nika Dolidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) won on court one against Max Palmer and Andrei Vitiuc 6-4. Christos Antonopoulos (Athens, Greece) and Henry Gordon (New Braunfels, Tx.) teamed up on court two to defeat Ben Gerber and Daniel Wright 6-1. David Kohan (Sydney, Australia) and Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) paired on court three to take down Max Kane and Max Haase 6-4.
Penn State also played very well in singles today. Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario, Canada) posted a 6-0, 6-2 victory for the Lions against Andrei Vitiuc. Christos Antonopoulos eased past Max Kane with a 6-2, 6-1 win. Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) championed Daniel Wright in a hard fought 6-4, 6-2 battle. Gabriel Nemeth (Brasilia, Brazil) defeated Timber Erskine in a quick 6-0, 6-1. Henry Gordon battled with Max McDonald and came out with the win in a 7-5, 6-1 result. Nika Dolidze was also triumphant in a three set match that finished 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.
"We had a successful weekend," said head coach Jeff Zinn following todays wins. "Whenever you go undefeated you have to look at it as a success. Our younger guys keep getting better each match and our older guys, Aws [Laaribi] and Marc [Collado], are playing at a high level during their senior year. We always pencil in Ohio State because of the excellence of their program over the last decade, we want to represent ourselves well against the Big Ten Champions and hopefully we've worked ourselves to the point where we can be competitive with them. I thought James Madison and Bucknell both played very well today, they pushed us the way we needed to be pushed."
"The guys played really well today and I think we took care of business the way we should have," said associate head coach Paul Tobin. "We didn't drop a single match, and some of our new doubles teams look good. It was good to see Constant get the win, he's always going to have a tough match at number one no matter which teams we play."
The blue and white will return home this week to begin Big Ten conference play against Ohio State on Wednesday, February 15 at 5 p.m.
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Doubles Results:
1. Laaribi/Dolidze (PSU) def. Palmer/Vitiuc (BU), 6-4
2. Antonopoulos/Gordon (PSU) def. Gerber/Wright (BU), 6-1
3. Kohan/Lutschaunig (PSU) def. Kane/Haase (BU), 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles Results:
1. Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU) def. Daniel Wright (BU), 6-4, 6-2
2. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) def. Andrei Vitiuc (BU), 6-0, 6-2
3. Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) def. Max Kane (BU), 6-2, 6-1
4. Nika Dolidze (PSU) def. Bryan Adams (BU), 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
5. Henry Gordon (PSU) def. Max McDonald (BU), 7-5, 6-1
6. Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) def. Timber Erskine (BU), 6-0, 6-1
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1, 6, 5, 4