After suffering its first home loss of the season back on March 4, the Penn State men's tennis team hit the road for three contests in one week. The Nittany Lions were able to regain their swagger as they won all three matches, including a 4-3 upset over No. 21 Michigan, a 7-0 sweep of Army, and a convincing 6-1 victory over South Florida.

"I'm really proud of the guys and how they're competing," Penn State head coach Todd Doebler said. "To go on the road and beat a very good team like Michigan and two tough teams in Army and South Florida was no small achievement. I was really pleased with the effort our team showed."

In two of the three matches, Penn State (11-2, 2-1 Big Ten) was able to secure the early doubles point, an area that Doebler had stressed as needing a lot of work.

"It was important for us to win the doubles point because it gives us momentum going into the singles matches," Doebler said. "The guys did a great job during doubles play, and that was a big part in our three wins."

Shakeups in the doubles teams may have helped. Sophomore Adam Slagter, who until last week had been paired with junior Michael James, recently competed alongside freshman Ryan Gormley. The new doubles team of Slagter and Gormley was able to win two of their three doubles matches and help get the Lions back on the winning side.

Doebler noticed that his switch was effective, and he said that his main goal was to divide up some of his more seasoned players and pair them with the newer players on the team to allow the underclassmen to gain experience and boost their skills.

"I thought it was time for a change," Doebler said. "It was done mainly to help fine tune the players' game, and I think that it definitely helped."

The loss of Slagter didn't affect James in his play, as he saw success in his doubles matches, as well as his singles matches. James earned two doubles wins with his partner senior Ryan Berger, along with three singles match wins, extending his singles winning streak to six games.

The junior defeated two ranked opponents in one week, including an upset of the No. 39 singles player in the country in Michigan's Brian Hung. James is currently ranked No. 93 and boasts a 21-4 record on the season. For his efforts on the court, James was also awarded with the Big Ten Athlete of the Week honor for the first time in his career and earned even more recognition from his coach.

"It is a great honor for Michael to receive this recognition," Doebler said.

"I am really proud of him because he has really stepped it up against some very good players. It is exciting to see how much he has improved since the fall. I am looking forward to seeing how much he will improve as the spring continues."