When the pressure was on, sophomore Malcolm Scatliffe came to play. The No. 1 singles player for the Penn State men's tennis team came up big all weekend for the No. 56 Nittany Lions.

Scatliffe led the Lions (11-4, 2-1 Big Ten) to two huge victories, against No. 41 Michigan on Saturday and No. 44 Michigan State yesterday, in the first two men's matches at the Sarni Tennis Center this season. Both victories came down to Scatliffe's singles match. He won both times to give the Lions a 4-3 win in each match.

Against Michigan, the Lions swept the doubles point, but desperately needed a third win in singles play. That's when Scatliffe stepped up to the challenge. He was locked in a dogfight with the No. 49 player in the nation, Michael Rubin. His match had been a battle all day, with Scatliffe dropping the first set 2-6, then fighting back to take the second 6-2.

The momentum had shifted in his favor as the rest of the team gathered near the first court to cheer him on. With each point he won, Scatliffe got more fired up, pumping his fist, staring down Rubin and even once giving a huge chest pound to his bench.

Rubin, who must have seen the match slipping away, double-faulted on match point as Scatliffe broke his serve to win the third set 6-2. Upon winning match point, Scatliffe turned to his bench and screamed, "Lets go baby!" as he ran to his waiting teammates. The match gave the Lions their fourth point of the match and the win.

"I play better when people are watching me, getting me pumped up," Scatliffe said. "I didn't realize my match would clinch the win, but I knew I had to win it. If I win this one I have a chance of getting ranked."

Penn State tennis coach Jan Bortner expressed his pride with his No. 1 player.

"Last week he got the confidence," he said. "Now Malcolm is settling in that number one spot."

Against Michigan State, the deciding point came down to Scatliffe once again, as the Lions had battled to a 3-3 tie with only his match remaining. Scatliffe took it to No. 100 Andrew Formanczyk in the first set, winning 6-0. However, Scatliffe looked fatigued in his fourth match of the weekend and he dropped the second set 4-6.

Scatliffe dug in deep to break Formanczyk's serve and tie the set at 3-3 in the third. Once again, the crowd and the rest of the team got behind Scatliffe, cheering him on after every shot. They were even more intense because of the post-match celebration of Michigan State's Chris Mitchell, who screamed and tore his shirt off after his singles victory.

"Once your individual match is over, you have one responsibility left," Bortner said. "That is to support your teammates, get on the side of that court and root for your buddies. That support can make a big difference."

On match point, Formanczyk smashed the ball back into the net. After winning the third set 6-4, Scatliffe fell to the court as his teammates jumped the fence to congratulate him. The match gave the Lions the tie-breaking point and the win against a higher-ranked Michigan State team.

"I like the pressure situation. I was so pumped up and wanted to win badly," Scatliffe said. "This was the first time in college that it all came down to my match, with it being tied 3-3. I like that pressure and I feed off that, when everyone's into it."

Other than Scatliffe, senior Todd Stecko and freshman Bradley Hunter stepped up in a big way for the Lions. Both players earned the singles points in both matches.

Also playing a big part in the weekend's success was the team's ability to win the doubles point. On Saturday, the Lions swept Michigan in doubles and yesterday they fought to win two of the three matches.

"We've been waiting for a match for our guys to put everything together, and today we showed what we can do," Bortner said Saturday.