University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Penn State
Gophers Upset No. 39 Penn State
4/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
The University of Minnesota Gophers earned a thrilling 4-3 win over the No. 39 Penn State Nittany Lions on Sunday in the last home match of the regular season.
Before the match seniors Tucker Saxon and Ruben Weber were honored for everything they have given to the program.
"I thought it was good," head coach Geoff Young said. "I really thought we were going to play better today, and we did. It was nice to be rewarded for it."
The No. 26 nationally ranked doubles pairing of Felix Corwin and Matic Spec earned the first win of the day, getting a 6-0 sweep at No. 1 doubles.
The Nittany Lions evened out the score, taking a 6-1 win at No. 2 doubles over Marino Alpeza and Ruben Weber.
Penn State came back from a 3-0 deficit and secured the doubles point with a close 7-6 (4) victory at No. 3 doubles against Jeremy Lynn and Justyn Levin.
Alpeza earned the first singles victory of the day, winning 6-3, 6-3 at the No. 4 spot for his 12th of the season.
Corwin gave the Gophers a 2-1 lead with a 7-5, 6-3 win at the No. 3 spot against No. 123 Matt Barry. The win ends his four-game streak of unfinished matches and gives him his 11th victory this season.
Weber and Lynn dropped their matches back-to-back, giving PSU a 3-2 lead.
The Gophers battle through adversity on a beautiful day outside at the Baseline Tennis Center to pull out the last two matches.
Spec tied up the match and earned his 15th win of the season, winning (6-3, 4-6, 6-2) at No. 1 singles. He now holds a 15-10 record and has won his last three completed matches.
It all came down to Levin, whose match was decided in a tiebreak. He pulled out a strong (6-3, 4-6 6-4) win for his 12th and biggest win of the season/
"We have to keep playing to get better at every little aspect of our game," Young said. "Just kind of notice what we need to get better at and, under pressure, challenging ourselves to hit the right shots instead of hitting what we are comfortable with."
The Gophers travel to Purdue and Indiana next weekend to finish out the regular season and will host the Big Ten Championship the weekend after.
Minnesota 4, #39 Penn State 3
Singles competition
1. Matic Spec (MINN) def. C. De La Bassetiere (PSU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
2. Leo Stakhovsky (PSU) def. Ruben Weber (MINN) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
3. Felix Corwin (MINN) def. #123 Matt Barry (PSU) 7-5, 6-3
4. Marino Alpeza (MINN) def. Aws Laaribi (PSU) 6-3, 6-3
5. Justyn Levin (MINN) def. Ben Lieb (PSU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
6. Marc Collado (PSU) def. Jeremy Lynn (MINN) 7-5, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. Felix Corwin/Matic Spec (MINN) def. C. Lutschaunig/David Kohan (PSU) 6-0
2. Leo Stakhovsky/Matt Barry (PSU) def. Marino Alpeza/Ruben Weber (MINN) 6-1
3. Aws Laaribi/C. De La Bassetiere (PSU) def. Jeremy Lynn/Justyn Levin (MINN) 7-6 (7-4)
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,2,3) Singles (4,3,2,6,1,5)
Players Mentioned
