"Anytime, as a coach, you're reluctant to put two freshmen together," Penn State men's tennis coach Jan Bortner said.

But for Bortner's No. 67 Nittany Lions, the decision to pair two first-year players together at the No. 3 doubles slot has been a huge plus for the team.

The duo of Michael James and Chris Sherman has been one of the most solid and dependable spots on the team, going 7-2 together this spring.

At the start of the season, Bortner said the team had been stressing the doubles play, devoting about 50 percent of the time in practice toward doubles. It would seem like all that work for just one of seven points in a match would hardly be worth it. But time and time again, a close match, especially in the Big Ten, can come down to that first doubles point.

It seems like the Lions have really bought into the philosophy as well, winning the doubles point in every victory this spring. Even in their first loss, against No. 3 Illinois earlier this season, the Lions played some of their best doubles. James and Sherman even managed to win their match, 8-4, against an Illinois squad that is known as one of the best in the nation at doubles.

"We're playing real well -- we're not at the top of our game yet, but we'll get there," James said after the Illinois match. "We served well today and returned well today."

Their success with service and return games has helped the two freshmen put together their streak of wins at doubles, which is dominated by the service game. Their aggressive play, in getting to the net and putting away opponents as quickly as possible, has shown their coach that it was a good idea to put them together.

"I like the chemistry, I like the way their games complement each other," Bortner said. "They're at third doubles, so there's not as much pressure as second or first, and they seem to be handling this well."

This chemistry is especially evident in serves and returns, the strength of the pair.

"MJ is a really good returner; he's been making almost every return, and I've been returning well too, but just not quite as good as him," Sherman said. "But I've been serving really well -- I think we complement each other with our serves and returns. One of us is always doing well so we've been able to hold our serves and get breaks."

The duo also seems to know where the other player will be all over the court, which could be one of the hardest parts of doubles. If their success is any gauge of their on-court communication, it is safe to say that the duo is getting close to having that down cold.

"We're also moving well, we know who is getting to every ball and we're just doing a good job putting opponents away," Sherman said.

Part of their success may partially be due to the effort that Sherman is able to put toward doubles play. The freshman is not in the singles lineup at this stage of the season, and has been devoted to making the most of his time in doubles.

"With not playing singles, I have to be more focused on doubles -- I like to know that I'm helping the team by playing well," he said. "I know my biggest impact is in the doubles, so I try to do as much as I can for the team."

At this point, Sherman and James are certainly doing a great deal for their team.

In their victories, many times they will finish their match first, thus giving the other doubles pairings some momentum with which to work. And the momentum only builds for the rest of the Lions, as a win at doubles, played first, can take pressure off of all the singles players.

Recently the duo has struggled, going 0-2 during the Lions' road matches during spring break, in contests with No. 65 Indiana and Villanova.

"They're freshmen being freshmen," Bortner said. "They have to realize that at this level, no matter who you're playing, you have to be ready. Hopefully they'll learn from it [the Villanova loss]."

Even with their success so far, James said, as freshmen they are not at the top of their games yet. Sherman said that the duo can still work on hitting its second or third balls better, keeping those shots out of the net. If they can keep long volleys going, the extended play prevents opponents from getting easy points off of Penn State's mistakes.

"When we play aggressive, that's our best stuff," Sherman said. "At the same time, when we can make our opponents have to play our shots, we're playing our best doubles."

A controlled aggression, as Bortner describes it, is the key to doubles, and once the two freshmen can master that, the Lions could find themselves with 1-point cushion at the start of singles play every weekend for the remainder of the season.