Several weeks back, the Penn State men's tennis team suffered two difficult losses against Minnesota and Iowa. Its record stood at 1-2 and its confidence was waning. A win over a strong Temple team Thursday would reverse those losing ways and gain back lost confidence.

"I told (the team) coming in that this was a big match for us," Coach Jan Bortner said. "We really needed this today."

Fortunately for Bortner and his Lions, they got the important win, and in an emphatic manner. The fired-up Lions thrashed their Temple foes by winning eight of the nine individual matches played. They won all three doubles matches to start off the meet and never looked back.

"We got off to a good start," Bortner said. "It gave us that little spark that we needed."

What the Lions also needed was to see their nationally-ranked doubles team of Michael Carter and Chad Skorupka to right the wrongs of its upset loss at Iowa. Carter and Skorupka delivered with an 8-4 win.

"It was good to get back on track," Carter said. "It felt great. My forehand hasn't been as good as it has before, but it was a lot better today. It's my biggest weapon."

Penn State's biggest weapon is team captain Ivan Spinner, and he was loaded for combat Thursday. In the No. 1 singles match, Spinner took on Temple's best player, junior John Simone, and was faced with maintaining the momentum of the doubles wins. Spinner did both, crushing Simone in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0. It sent the message that this was to be the Lions' day.

"When one of your key guys is getting beat like that," said Bortner, referring to the Temple team, "it sets off a chain reaction."

The match had individual implications for Spinner, as well as being important in the team match. "This is probably my biggest match of the year for Eastern rankings of the NCAAs," said a happy Spinner. Simone had beaten him two years earlier, so it was key for Spinner to beat him so soundly.

Spinner's win was just the first in a series of singles dominations by the team. Greg Gaunt, Carter, Chris Cahill and Michael Tain all won in straight sets, bringing home a big win for the squad.

"(The win) boosts our confidence a lot," Spinner said. "I was definitely very satisfied with the win."