In two must-win Big Ten matches, the No. 46 Penn State men's tennis team was able to come away with a weekend sweep -- in two very different ways.

The Nittany Lions (13-2, 3-2 Big Ten) took down No. 59 Northwestern in a solid 6-1 victory on Friday afternoon and followed it up with a hard-fought 5-2 win against Wisconsin yesterday.

The match against the Badgers showed how the Lions could find a way to win, even when not playing their best.

After losing the doubles point, and with the overall score tied at 2, three singles matches went into third sets. The winner of two of those matches would take the overall match. Penn State would go on to win all three, including junior Ryan Berger's 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win against Brennen Phippen at No. 3 singles that sealed the deal for the Lions.

"The guys did a good job of being just tough. They were kind of upset with themselves that they didn't play their best in doubles and they were determined to play their best in singles," Penn State coach Bill Potoczny said. "Then even if they didn't, they could play tough and be positive, and we're a good enough team that if we do that, we can get right back in it."

Despite dropping the doubles point, which has precluded every one of the team's losses this season, the Lions came out strong in singles, winning the first set in five of the six matches. The turnaround for the Lions started when the No. 1 pair of senior co-captain Mark Barry and freshman Adam Slagter won the final doubles match 8-7 against Jeremy Sonkin and Nolan Polley. Although the victory meant nothing on the scorecard, the effect was evident.

"When we won that doubles match, the momentum shifted," Slagter said. "The crowd got into it, people stuck around. When we got swept by Indiana [in doubles] the mood was kind of dull, people were down."

Even though Penn State was up big, Wisconsin battled back. The Lions had some trouble in the second sets because the tennis balls were getting worn out, getting bigger, slower and fluffier.

Once the third sets started, new balls were put into play, helping out Penn State players like Slagter at No. 5 singles. His 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win against Felipe Bellido put Penn State up 3-2, setting the stage for either Berger or senior Malcolm Scatliffe to clinch the victory for the Lions.

"In third set, about halfway through I got up a break and from there I was just focusing on first serves," Slagter said. "I didn't play my best, but I found a way to win."

In beating Northwestern, the Lions looked much closer to being at their best, earning Penn State's first win in seven matches against the Wildcats.

Coming out strong in doubles got the ball rolling for Penn State, as the Lions took a 1-0 lead with doubles victories from Berger and Brad Hunter and the duo of James Dwyer and Scatliffe at the No. 2 and 3 spots, respectively.

"As always, doubles was so huge for momentum," Potoczny said. "The guys had that attitude you need in doubles. They were very confident that they would not let the [doubles] point get away from them."

From there, the Lions never looked back, winning five of six singles matches, capped off by Barry's three-set 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) victory against nationally ranked Christian Tempke.