University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Penn State
Gophers Hold Serve 5-2 against No. 44 Penn State
4/1/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
MINNEAPOLIS - The Gopher Men's Tennis team finished its homestand with a 5-2 win over No. 44 Penn State on Sunday at Baseline Tennis Center.
No. 33 Minnesota (11-5, 4-1 Big Ten) controlled the pace at no. 1 doubles as Felix Corwin and Josip Krstanovic cruised to a quick 6-0 victory, but the other two courts were more tightly contested. No. 44 Penn State (11-9, 1-4 Big Ten) broke serve on the Gophers at no. 2 doubles on the tenth set, tying things up at 1-1 with a 6-4 win. Stefan Milicevic and Marino Alpeza broke serve to take a 6-5 leave and then Alpeza would collect a service ace to close it out with a 7-5 win and give Minnesota a doubles victory and a 1-0 lead.
"Penn State is a good team, and they caught us hitting our stride. We played well Friday, and we played well today. We're happy with the match for the most part," said head coach Geoff Young after the match. "We're competing pretty well on the court. The doubles is very important, and we'll practice a lot of that this week to shore it up ahead of this weekend. Anytime you go on the road in the Big Ten, it's never easy.
Krstanovic rolled the momentum into singles play as he breezed to a 6-1, 6-1 win at the no. 5 singles position to give the Maroon & Gold a 2-0 edge. Corwin continued his strong play at the no. 1 singles spot, earning a ranked victory as he knocked off no. 117 Constant De La Bassetiere, 6-2, 6-1. Stefan Milicevic clinched it for the Gophers as he rolled to a 6-3, 6-3 win over Christos Antonopoulos, his third-straight victory.
Matic Spec gave Minnesota a 5-0 lead, finishing off Christian Kaloseliac in two, 7-5, 6-3 for his fourth consecutive victory. Penn State claimed the final two matches after the victory was sealed to pull within 5-2.
"I was pretty happy and a little bit lucky at the end of the first set to win the game at 6-5 when he was already up 40-0." said Spec after the victory. "I don't think there was much of a difference between the first and second set, I just did the fundamentals and held my serve without much fluctuation and that is what made the difference."
Singles
1. No. 93 Felix Corwin (MINN) def. No. 117 Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU), 6-2, 6-1
2. No. 104 Matic Spec (MINN) def. Christian Lakoseliac (PSU), 7-5, 6-3
3. No. 75 Stefan Milicevic (MINN) def. Christos Antonopooulos (PSU), 6-3, 6-3
4. Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) def. Eli Ogilvy (MINN) 6-3, 6-7 (3-6), 13-11
5. Josip Krstanovic (MINN) def. Ben Lieb (PSU), 6-1, 6-1
6. Alp Sentay (PSU) def. Marino Alpeza (MINN), 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
1. Felix Corwin / Josip Krstanovic (MINN) def. Christos Antonopoulos / Alp Sentay (PSU), 6-0
2. Constant De La Bassetierre / Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) def. Matic Spec / Eli Ogilvy (MINN), 6-4
3. Stefan Milicevic / Marino Alpeza (MINN) def. Ben Lieb / Christian Lakoseliac (PSU), 7-5
Order of Finish
Doubles (1, 2, 3) … Singles (5, 1, 3, 2, 6, 4)
UP NEXT
Minnesota heads back out on the road next weekend, beginning with a match-up against Indiana in Bloomington on Friday. First serve is set for 5 p.m.
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Players Mentioned
