Nov. 1, 2008
Madison, Wis. - The Penn State Men's Tennis team lost its dual matches in the first round of the Big Ten Singles Championship on Saturday.
Sophomore Jamie Cox (Atlanta, Ga.) matched up against Northwestern's Phillip Kafaka in the first round of the tournament. In the first set of the matchup, Kafaka defeated Cox 6-3. Cox battled back in the second set, and won 6-3. However, Kafaka finished strong and took the match by winning the third set 6-2.
Sophomore Jake Toole (Sharon, Mass.) took on Josh Graves of Northwestern. Graves took the first set 6-2. In the next set, Toole made a stronger push, but fell short again, 6-4, and Graves took the match.
Freshman Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) faced a tough day as well, as Minnesota's Dino Bilankov won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0.
In consolation action, Lee highlighted the day for the Nittany Lions as he defeated Michigan State's Ron Hulewicz. In the first set, Lee ran away with a 6-1 win. In the second set, Lee and Hulewicz battled it out, but Lee took the tiebreaker to win the set and the match, 7-6 (4).
In other consolation action, Toole lost to Northwestern's Andrew McCarthy 6-1, 6-1, while Cox fell short to Iowa's Tom Murziewicz 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (10-8).
Following the conclusion of the fall season, Penn State will open up spring action on Jan. 18 at N.C. State for an 11 a.m. start. The Nittany Lions' first home meet will be Jan. 24 as they take on Saint Bonaventure and Saint Joseph's.
2008 Big Ten Singles Results
Main Draw
Round of 64:
Phillip Kafka (Northwestern) def. Jamie Cox (Penn State), 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
Josh Graves (Northwestern) def. Jake Toole (Penn State), 6-2, 6-4
Dino Bilankov (Minnesota) def. Jason Lee (Penn State), 6-4, 6-0
Consolation Bracket
Tom Murziewicz (Iowa) def. Jamie Cox (Penn State), 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (8)
Andrew McCarthy (Northwestern) def. Jake Toole (Penn State), 6-1, 6-1
Jason Lee (Penn State) def. Ron Hulewicz (Michigan State), 6-1, 7-6 (4)