In a near carbon copy of the teams' first meeting, the No. 6-seeded Penn State men's tennis team advanced past No. 11 Purdue yesterday and into the second round of the Big Ten Championships.

The Nittany Lions (17-6, 7-6 Big Ten) were on pace to beat the Boilermakers 5-2, but the No. 5 and 6 singles were stopped after No. 2 singles player Malcolm Scatliffe clinched a 4-1 win for the Lions, beating Sounak Chatterjee, 6-4, 6-4.

Scatliffe's clinching match was his fourth for the Lions in Big Ten play this season.

"This was one of his best matches. I thought he and [Mark] Barry had a renewed attitude coming into singles," Penn State coach Jan Bortner said of his two singles players. "They were not happy with their doubles, and they came in determined to help to get their team a 'W.' "

The match was the fourth consecutive singles win for the Lions, as they were able to overcome yet another lost doubles point. Due to weather conditions, the singles matches were played inside.

"Being in the position of losing the doubles over and over again, we knew we could win even when starting down 1-0," No. 3 singles player Ryan Berger said. "We knew we could do it against these guys, because we had done the same thing before this season -- we knew we could step up in singles and win."

The Lions got on the board thanks sophomore Bradley Hunter, who reversed his recent struggles in the Big Ten to beat Colin Foster, 6-2, 6-0. Hunter has been disappointed in his singles play in the Big Ten recently, but moving indoors played into his strong net-game.

"It was outstanding, an A-plus effort," Bortner said of Hunter's match. "It gives him a lot of confidence, he's one of those guys that if he gets on a roll, and is playing inside -- he can be tough."

His doubles partner, Berger, who has held the role of the spark for the Lions recently, followed Hunter on the scoreboard. At No. 3 singles Berger was able to quickly defeat David Robinson, 6-3, 6-1.

At No. 1 singles, junior Mark Barry dispatched of Filip Koziell, 6-3, 6-3. At that point, it set the stage for Scatliffe to close the door on the Boilermakers' season. The Lions' singles play had once again carried them as they dropped their 10th doubles point of the season, yet they continue to come close.

"Hunter and Berger's [No. 2 doubles] match was nip and tuck and Sherman and James [No. 3] played a solid match so we're making progress," Bortner said. "We competed hard at twos and threes and that set the tone for the singles."

The Lions will need continued improvement for today's second-round matchup with No. 3 seed Michigan at 3 p.m., where the Lions will be looking to avenge a 6-1 loss suffered at the hands of the Wolverines on Sunday.

Bortner said that while the Lions came out tight in yesterday's match, all the pressure is now on Michigan, because the Lions "have nothing to lose."

If the Lions can get it together in doubles and continue their strong singles play, it could mean a deep run into the tournament, and a possible berth, their first in six years, to the NCCA Championships.

"This is the first step [toward the national championships]," Hunter said. "It's tough for a team to beat another twice in a season -- it's even tougher to do that on back to back weekends."