UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State men’s tennis has announced their fall and spring schedules for the 2012-13 season. The fall schedule features a number of prestigious tournaments and opponents, while the spring schedules features matchups against 16 ranked opponents.
Penn State’s fall tournaments will include Top 30 opponents such as USC, Virginia, Georgia, Duke, North Carolina, VCU, Tennessee, Florida State, Michigan, Kentucky, Cal, and Illinois. USC is a four-time defending National Champion.
"Our goal was to challenge our team with as strong a fall schedule as possible", said Head Coach Jeff Zinn, entering his second year leading the program. "We anticipate our team to be much improved with one year of being in our system."
The Nittany Lions will begin the fall season, as they did in 2011, at the Farnsworth/Princeton Invitational on Sept. 14. They follow that with a trip to Charlottesville, Va. for the Ranked plus One Tournament. Tulsa, OK will host the All American Invitational starting on Sept. 29.
They return to Charlottesville, Oct. 5-7 for the UVA Fall Classic, hosted by Virginia, who fell in the 2012 National Championship. The Nittany Lions will then travel to the Tennessee Invitational, hosted by the Volunteers, who finished 20th in the final 2012 ITA Poll.
Penn State finishes the fall season with the ITA Regionals, Big Ten Singles, and the Collegiate Clay Court Invitational. The invitational will be hosted by Florida State, ranked 32nd in the final poll, in Orlando, Fla.
"The tournament in Orlando hosted by the USTA and Florida State should be a chance for our guys to see where they stack up against the best in the country."
A challenging non-conference spring schedule will prepare the team for a tough Big Ten slate. The Nittany Lions will open the spring at home on Jan. 19 against N.C. State, who finished 39th in the Final Poll and defeated Penn State last year in Raleigh. The team will also face in-state rivals Lehigh and Penn in home matchups. Cornell and Cleveland State round out the home schedule. Cornell finished last year ranked 70th and lost 5-2 to Penn State last year at Cornell. Penn State will meet Cleveland State in the first matchup between the schools.
The Nittany Lions will have a testing road slate that includes stops at the Wake Forest Tournament, Virginia Tech, VCU, William & Mary, and Spring Break trip to Texas. The Wake Forest Tournament will be a major test as the team goes up against Wake Forest, Alabama, and New Mexico. All three opponents were ranked in the final ITA Poll. Virginia Tech and VCU finished the year ranked 45th and 31st, respectively. Penn State is 7-4 all-time against William & Mary. The Spring Break trip will feature matchups against Texas, Rice, and Texas-Pan American. Texas and Rice were ranked last year.
Eight of Penn State’s 11 Big Ten matchups will come against opponents who were ranked in the final poll. Ohio State, ranked 4th, will open the Big Ten slate in Happy Valley. Penn State will also face Indiana, Purdue, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan at home. Indiana(22), Minnesota(36), and Michigan(21) were all ranked last year.
Big Ten road tests will include Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern, Illinois, and Michigan State. Nebraska(73), Northwestern(42), Illinois(15), and Michigan State(53) finished in the ITA Poll in 2012.
Penn State returns eight members from last year’s squad, including junior Russell Bader (Austin, Texas), sophomore Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic), and senior Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas). The team also welcomes freshmen Matt Barry (Long Island, N.Y.) and Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada). The Nittany Lions went 11-14 in 2012, including 10-3 in non-conference play and 9-5 at home.