April 1, 2018
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The No. 44 Penn State men's tennis team faced No. 33 Minnesota today at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis. The Gophers defeated the Lions, 5-2, in a tightly contested match.
In doubles, the Lions went 1-2 with the doubles point coming down to court three. Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) and Gabriel Nemeth (Brasilia, Brazil) knocked off Matic Spec and Eli Ogilvy on court two, 6-4. On court three, Ben Lieb (Newtown Square, Pa.) and Christian Lakoseljac were in a tightly contested match against Marino Alpeza and Stefan Milicevic but were outplayed, 7-5. Christos Antonopoulos (Athens, Greece) and Alp Sentay (Izmar, Turkey) were outmatched by Felix Corwin and Josip Krstanovic, 6-0.
In singles, the Lions pulled out two wins. On court four, Nemeth battled hard in tiebreak to knock off Ogilvy 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 (11). Sentay found his rhythm and outmatch Alpeza, 6-4, 6-4. No. 117 De La Bassetiere fell to No. 93 Corwin, 6-2, 6-1. Lakoseljac was outmatched by No. 104 Spec, 7-5, 6-3. Antonopoulos was defeated by No. 75 Milicevic, 6-3, 6-3. Krstanovic outplayed Ben Lieb, 6-1, 6-1.
"We knew this was going to be a tough road trip, especially if we had to play inside," said associate head coach Paul Tobin. "We didn't play well on several courts today and unfortunately we needed four players to step up after losing the doubles point. I'm disappointed we couldn't close out the doubles point while serving 5-5. I think that could have been a motivator for other guys to fight harder."`
The Lions are now 11-9 (1-4 B1G) on the season. The team is back home Saturday, April 7 when they take on Nebraska at 12:00 p.m. The following day, the Lions face the Iowa Hawkeyes at 11:00 a.m.
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. F. Corwin/J. Krstnanovic (MINN) def. A. Sentay/C. Antonopoulos (PSU) 6-0
2. C. De La Bassetiere/G. Nemeth (PSU) def. M. Spec/E. Ogilvy (MINN) 6-4
3. Alpeza/S. Milicevic (MINN) def. B. Lieb/C. Lakoseljac (PSU) 7-5
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles Results:
1. No. 93 Felix Corwin (MINN) def. No. 117 Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU) 6-2, 6-1
2. No. 104 Matic Spec (MINN) def. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) 7-5, 6-3
3. No. 75 Stefan Milicevic (MINN) def. Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) vs. Eli Ogilvy (MINN) 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 (11)
5. Josip Krstanovic (MINN) def. Ben Lieb (PSU) 6-1, 6-1
6. Alp Sentay (PSU) def. Marino Alpeza (MINN) 6-4, 6-4
Order of finish: 5, 1, 3, 2, 6, 4