April 22, 2017 - UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; April 22, 2017 ââ'¬" The Penn State men's tennis team competed in a Big Ten conference match at Illinois yesterday afternoon. The Nittany Lions fell 4-0 to the Fighting Illini.
The doubles point was won by Illinois with wins on two courts, with one match having gone unfinished. Three out of six singles matches went unfinished, with Illinois winning the other three.
"Playing at Illinois is never easy," commented head coach Jeff Zinn. "They have a great fan base and are very knowledgeable about tennis and their team. They are very well coached and are peaking at the right time of the season. The score line might read 4-0 but we were very much in the match! We were winning at two positions and looking like we were going to a third set at our No. 2 singles position. We just couldn't find that fourth match where we could turn the tide and stop them from clinching the fourth point. I was disappointed in our doubles start because we came out flat and got behind early on all courts. Somehow we fought back but it just wasn't enough. We need to start better at Northwestern on Sunday to have any chance of beating them."
"We knew we had to play our best to beat Illinois at home," said associate head coach Paul Tobin. "Their fans are pretty supportive and loud. I think Brad and Marcos knew we were capable of an upset and they made sure their guys came out playing strong. We lost No. 3 doubles pretty quickly but came back from double breaks on the other courts, but we didn't quite have the mojo to close them out. Singles looked much more competitive. Despite the 4-0 score, we had three courts still on holding their own, Lakoseljac down a set but up 4-1 in his second, Marc was up a set and at 4-2 in his second, and Christos was up a set, serving up 3-2. Hopefully we can get it together on Sunday against Northwestern."
The Lions next match will be this Sunday, April 23 at Northwestern University at 10:30 a.m. This conference match will be Penn State's final regular season match this spring, with the Big Ten Championships to follow ââ'¬" beginning on April 27.
Keep up with the Penn State men's tennis team at GoPSUsports.com. For continued updates throughout the year, make sure to `like' our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatemten and follow our twitter @pennstateMTEN!
Doubles Results:
1. Jesse/Kovacevic (ILL) vs. #58 Bassetiere/Lakoseljac (PSU), 5-4, unfinished
2. Budic/Vukic (ILL) def. Lutschaunig/Dolidze (PSU), 6-3
3. Gomes/Hiltzik (ILL) def. Kohan/Antonopoulos (PSU), 6-1
Order of Finish, 3, 2
Singles Results:
1. #5 Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU), 6-2, 6-1
2. #32 Aron Hiltzik (ILL) vs. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU), 6-4, 1-4, unfinished
3. Gui Gomes (ILL) vs. Christos Antonopoulos (PSU), 6-7 (7-2), 3-2, unfinished
4. Aleks Kovacevic (ILL) def. Aws Laaribi (PSU), 6-2, 6-1
5. Zeke Clark (ILL) def. Ben Lieb (PSU), 6-2, 6-4
6. Marc Collado (PSU) vs. Noe Khlif (ILL), 6-3, 4-2, unfinished