If the No. 54 Penn State men's tennis team needed any sort of scouting report on Michigan, the team got a good one in its 4-3 loss to Virginia Tech last Sunday.
The Lions will play at No. 21 Michigan -- a team that Penn State coach Todd Doebler likened to the Hokies -- at 6 p.m. tomorrow at the Varsity Tennis Center.
Michigan has only lost to No. 3 Virginia (5-2), No. 7 Notre Dame (5-2) and No. 35 Texas A&M (4-3) this season.
"They're a very deep team and they're a good home team and they're all aggressive players," senior Ryan Berger said. "They all know how to compete and win at every single spot, so we're going to have to step up in every singles match and doubles match.
"We can't get lax anywhere, because they're going to bring their best tennis all across the board."
The Wolverines (8-3, 1-0 Big Ten) feature the No. 2 doubles team in the country in the pairing of Brian Hung and Matko Maravic. Hung and Maravic are also the No. 39 and No. 52 singles players in the country, respectively.
Last year, the Lions beat Michigan 5-2, including wins by senior Bradley Hunter, junior Michael James and sophomore Adam Slagter. But Doebler said that this year's Michigan team is better than the one that Penn State beat last year.
"The big thing for us is that we come out and that we really continue to compete hard, work on the things that we've been doing and, when we do, get opportunities we need to capitalize," Doebler said. "That's something that we've done in certain points in the season but we haven't done as a whole team yet. So if we can get that effort and that execution then that will put us in a good position."
After tomorrow night's match, the Lions will fly to Orlando for a spring break trip of their own.
Penn State will play its first two outdoor matches of the spring season next week.
Next Wednesday it plays Army in Orlando, the Black Knights are 2-6.
Then next Friday the Lions will travel to Tampa to play South Florida, a team that is 4-6, but according to Doebler, should be ranked as the Bulls nearly beat No. 26 University of Florida, losing 4-3.
Getting acclimated to the outdoors could be an issue.
"Outside is a new type of game," Berger said. "It incorporates the wind, the sun, longer points, so you have to adjust a little bit but it's a good thing."
Notes: In Tuesday's ITA College Tennis Rankings, the doubles team of junior Michael James and sophomore Adam Slagter, ranked No. 19 in the Feb. 21 rankings, are now out of the top 60. James moved to No. 93 in the latest singles rankings. Penn State dropped ten spots from No. 44 to No. 54.
