UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State men's tennis team announced their 2014-15 slate on Tuesday (Sept. 16). The Nittany Lions will send players to five fall tournaments. The dual match schedule features 15 teams that finished in the ITA Top 75 and nine that participated in the NCAA Tournament, including three that made it to the Sweet 16.
Led by head coach Jeff Zinn, the Nittany Lions will look to return to the NCAA Tournament after reaching the second round last spring. The team broke numerous school records as they went 22-6 overall and 8-3 in the Big Ten. It marked the first 20-win campaign in program history. Penn State also had their highest finish ever in the Big Ten, finishing third in the standings. The team also went 15-0 at home and won 11 matches against ranked opponents.
Penn State returns 11 members from the 2013-14 team and adds Wake Forest transfer Aws Laaribi (Rye, N.Y.).
Junior Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) is coming off a campaign in which he was a unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selection and qualified for the NCAA Singles and NCAA Doubles Championships. Playing exclusively at No. 1 singles, Stakhovsky went 18-8 with eight wins against ranked opponents. Stakhovsky also combined with Russell Bader to go 19-7 in doubles. Stakhovsky is ranked 29th in the ITA Preseason Singles Poll. Stakhovsky and sophomore Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) are ranked 43rd in the preseason doubles poll.
In addition to Stakhovsky, Penn State welcomes back three players that had at least 14 singles wins last spring. Junior Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.), Fennell and junior Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) all return.
"Each and every year we try to upgrade our schedule to make it as tough and competitive as possible," said Head Coach Jeff Zinn. "I've always believed that you should always play the best competition you can to make yourself better at the end of the year, when it really counts, with the Big Ten Championships and NCAA Tournament."
Penn State opens the fall tournament schedule on September 26 at the University of Penn Invite. That weekend, the Nittany Lions will also send players to the ITA All-American Championships that begin on September 28.
In October, Penn State players will compete at the ITA Atlantic Regional and the Disney Invite. The regional will be hosted in Charlottesville, Va. by the University of Virginia. The Disney Invite will take place in Orlando, Fla. The Nittany Lions wrap up their fall slate at the William & Mary Invitational, beginning on November 7.
The Nittany Lions will be tested from the start of their non-conference schedule. Penn State was selected to participate in the ITA Kickoff Weekend, January 23-24. They will take on Kentucky on January 23rd, with the winner of that match taking on the winner of the South Florida/Vanderbilt match. All four teams in the regional made the 2014 NCAA Tournament and finished in the ITA Top 25. The regional will feature two returning ITA All-Americans, Vanderbilt's Gonzales Austin and South Florida's Roberto Cid.
"We're very excited to be invited to the ITA Kickoff indoors," said Zinn. "We haven't played that in a number of years, so we feel like we have the program back on the right track to be able to be invited to such a prestigious tournament. That weekend we kick it off with the University of Kentucky, who is one of the top programs in the country. They are consistently a deep qualifier in the NCAAs. That will be great to start the season with someone as well respected as they are."
Penn State takes on Penn, Temple and James Madison in a the program's first ever tripleheader to mark their home opener on February 1. The Penn match will begin at 9 a.m. with the Temple match following at approximately 1 p.m. and the finale against James Madison starting at approximately 5 p.m.
The blue and white will travel to Blacksburg, Va. on February 8 for a Noon match against Virginia Tech. The Hokies made the 2014 NCAA Tournament and were ranked No. 38 in the final ITA Poll. Penn State knocked off Virginia Tech, 4-3, in Happy Valley last spring.
The Nittany Lions return home the following Saturday, February 15, for a doubleheader against Georgetown and Cleveland State. The Hoyas went 8-13 last year, while the Vikings went 14-7 and finished second in the Horizon League.
Penn State then travels to Ithaca, N.Y. on February 12 for a Noon match against Cornell. The Big Red went 13-8 last spring and were ranked No. 58 in the final ITA Poll.
The blue and white host Ohio State at 3 p.m. on February 27 in their first Big Ten match of the spring. The Buckeyes are the defending conference champions after going 33-4 overall and 11-0 in conference play. They advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament and were ranked No. 5 in the final ITA rankings.
The next day, Penn State takes on Princeton at Noon. The Tigers finished last year with a 13-11 mark and were ranked No. 61 in the ITA Poll.
The Nittany Lions travel to face Atlantic Region foe VCU on March 6. The Rams went 15-13 last year and finished No. 51 in the ITA Poll. Penn State defeated VCU, 4-2, last year in Happy Valley.
Penn State finishes their non-conference schedule during their spring break trip to Tampa, Fla. for the University of South Florida Tournament. Other teams at the tournament include Drake, Middle Tennessee State, North Florida, UNC Wilmington and VCU.
Penn State resumes their Big Ten schedule on March 20 at Michigan State and then return home for a Noon match against Michigan on March 22. Both teams finished ranked in the ITA Top 75 and Michigan made the NCAA Tournament. After the Michigan match, the Nittany Lions will take on Wagner in a doubleheader.
The following weekend, Penn State travels to Illinois and Northwestern on March 27 and 29, respectively. Both teams made the NCAA Tournament, with Illinois finishing at No. 11 and Northwestern at No. 33 in the ITA rankings.
The Nittany Lions welcome Wisconsin for a 4 p.m. match on April 3 and Minnesota for a Noon match on April 5. Minnesota were ranked No. 54 in the final ITA Poll and return ITA All-American Leandro Toledo.
Penn State stays home the following weekend for matches against Purdue and Indiana. The Boilermakers made the NCAA Tournament and finished ranked No. 42.
The blue and white wrap up their spring schedule on April 17 and 19 against Nebraska and Iowa, respectively.
"I'm really excited for this coming year," said Assistant Coach Paul Tobin. "We are putting last year's results behind us and focusing on the things we need to do to maintain a Top 25 ranking. With the addition of Aws and Tomas Hanzlik returning to the lineup, we are very optimistic of what the year will bring. We also have strong depth throughout the roster that will also create some good double specialist teams."
For the complete schedule, please visit the men's tennis schedule page.
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