April 8, 2018
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; April 8, 2018 - The No. 48 Penn State men's tennis team faced Big Ten foe Iowa today at the Indoor Tennis Center. The Lions defeated the Hawkeyes, 4-3.
In doubles, the Lions had opportunities to take the point but couldn't close matches. Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario) and Ben Lieb (Newtown Square, Pa.) had the only win in doubles defeating Joe Tyler and Jake Jacoby, 7-5. No. 51 Kareem Allaf and Jonas Larsen knocked off Alp Sentay (Izmar, Turkey) and Christos Antonopoulos (Athens, Greece), 7-5. Constant De La Bassetiere (Reims, France) and Gabriel Nemeth (Brasilia, Brazil) fell to No. 62 Piotr Smietana and Will Davies in a tiebreak, 7-6 (5).
The Lions went 4-2 in singles. Lakoseljac's serve led to him dominating Silverstein 6-2, 6-0. De La Bassetiere faced off against Smietana and came out victorious 6-1, 6-2. Antonopoulos was in a close match against Tyler, but found his momentum to win 6-4, 6-3. After notching multiple aces, Sentay clinched the match for the Lions against Larsen, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Nemeth fell to Allaf in a tight match, 6-4, 7-5. Ben Lieb was defeated 7-6 (7), 6-2.
"Today showed a lot about our team in that we fought until the very end," said head coach Jeff Zinn. "We had a lot of adversity against us in the match, especially in doubles. I thought we should've won both the courts that we lost. In singles, they're so good in four, five and six. We took care in one, two and three and played really well. And then Alp Sentay, at this time of year you're not really a freshman anymore. But he didn't play like a freshman; he played really, really well. He played like we thought he could play. We've had so many guys clinch for us this year and it's nice to see him clinch for us and be that guy to get us the fourth point. I know that means a lot for his confidence and the team in general."
"Pulling out those 4-3 wins really shows us that the guys are handling the pressure and pulling together as one team," said associate head coach Paul Tobin. "Losing the doubles point after splitting on No. 2 and No. 3, and up 5-2 on the serve on court one was tough to swallow. The guys could have easily folded, but they stayed energized and focused. It was so good to see Alp clinch it for the team."
The Lions are now 13-9 (3-4 B1G) on the season and remain undefeated at home. The team hosts their last two home matches of the season next weekend. On Friday, April 13 the Lions face off against Northwestern at 4:00 p.m. Then Sunday, April 15 the team takes on No. 7 Illinois at 12:00 p.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. No. 51 K. Allaf/J. Larsen (IOWA) def. A. Sentay/C. Antonopoulos (PSU) 7-5
2. No. 62 P. Smietana/W. Davies (IOWA) def. C. De La Bassetiere/G. Nemeth (PSU) 7-6 (5)
3. C. Lakoseljac/B. Lieb (PSU) def. J. Tyler/J. Jacoby (IOWA) 7-5
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles Results:
1. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) def. Josh Silverstein (IOWA) 6-2, 6-0
2. Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU) def. Piotr Smietana (IOWA) 6-1, 6-2
3. Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) def. Joe Tyler (IOWA) 6-4, 6-3
4. Kareem Allaf (IOWA) def. Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) 6-4, 7-5
5. Will Davies (IOWA) def. Ben Lieb (PSU) 7-6 (7), 6-2
6. Alp Sentay (PSU) def. Jonas Larsen (IOWA) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6