Jan. 28, 2018
TUSCALOOSA, ALA.-- The Penn State men's tennis team took on Alabama in its second match of the weekend walking away with a tough 4-0 loss. Head coach Jeff Zinn's squad wrapped up a weekend trip in Tuscaloosa.
The Nittany Lions came up just short in doubles, falling 1-2 in doubles matches. Ben Lieb (Newtown Square, Pa.) and Gabriel Nemeth (Brasilia, Brazil) picked up the only doubles win with a 7-6 victory over Riccardo Roberto and Zhe Zhou.
Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) and Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario, Canada) took on Mazen Osama and Edison Ortiz but came up short, losing 7-6. Alp Sentay (Izmar, Turkey) andChristos Antonopoulos (Athens, Greece) lost to Thibault Cancel and Alexey Nesterov 6-2.
Three singles matches finished, while three others did not finish out. Antonopoulos fell to Kaukovalta 7-6 (7-1), 6-2. Sentay lost to Zhou 6-3, 6-4. Lieb was defeated by Nesterov 6-1, 6-2.
De La Bassetiere was in a tight match with Osama that went unfinished at 4-6, 3-3. Lakoseljac battled back in the second set to push it to three and the score was 4-6, 6-3 when play finished. Nemeth was in another battle where the score was left at 6-7, 1-2 when play ended.
"Alabama was coming off a nice win against Virginia Tech that put them 6-0 on the year so far," said associate head coach Paul Tobin. "We split doubles and had eight set points at #1 to get the point. That was disappointing, but also encouraging because we are competing so well. In singles we had many opportunities, Gabriel Nemeth, had four set points and we were up double breaks on several courts."
The Nittany Lions are now 1-2 on the season. The team will be back at home next weekend for a double header against Buffalo at 12:00 p.m. and Temple at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3.
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:
- Mazen Osama/Edson Ortiz (UA) def. Constant De La Bassetiere/Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) 7-6 (10-8)
- Thibault Cancel/Alexey Nesterov (UA) def. Christos Antonopoulos/Alp Sentay (PSU) 6-2
- Gabriel Nemeth/Ben Lieb (PSU) def. Riccardo Roberto/Zhe Zhou (UA) 7-6 (7-5)
Singles Results:
- Mazen Osama (UA) vs. #67 Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU) 6-4, 3-3, unfinished
- Thibault Cancel (UA) vs. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) 6-4, 3-6, 0-0, unfinished
- Patrick Kaukovalta (UA) def. Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) 7-6 (7-1), 6-2
- Zhe Zhou (UA) def. Alp Sentay (PSU) 6-3, 6-4
- Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) vs. Edson Ortiz (UA) 6-7, 1-2, unfinished
- Alexey Nesterov (UA) def. Ben Lieb (PSU) 6-1, 6-2