ANN ARBOR, Mich. – No. 3 seed Penn State men's tennis fell to No. 2 seed Illinois, 4-2. The team will now wait for NCAA selections to decide their postseason fate.
The NCAA Selection Show will start at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 29 at NCAA.com.
"Another day of really tough conditions and the team that would handle the conditions better was going to win," head coach Jeff Zinn said. "We handled the conditions in doubles and played very well but in singles we didn't play as well as we needed to against a very good Illinois team. We are going to experience the same atmosphere and the same game situations and we have to do a better job if we are going to advance in the NCAA tournament."
DOUBLES
Penn State started off strong, winning two doubles matches to secure the first point of the match.
Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario, Canada) and Christos Antonopoulos (Athens, Greece) defeated Fletcher Scott/Zeke Clark, 6-3. The win makes them 3-0 at the No. 2 spot in the doubles lineup and gives them an overall record of 14-5 this season.
Ben Lieb (Newtown Square, Pa.) and Matt Galush (Cary, N.C.) got the win against Vuk Budic/Gui Gomes, 6-4 and clinched the first point of the match. The pair is now 14-5 on the season.
SINGLES
Although Penn State fought hard in singles, they couldn't get enough momentum to get the match win.
Lieb got the only win for the Nittany Lions against Keenan Mayo, 6-3, 6-4. He is now 14-6 on the season and 9-3 in the No. 3 spot.
NEXT UP
The NCAA Tournament selection show will start on Monday, April 29 at 6 p.m. on NCAA.com. The first and second rounds of the tournament will start Friday, May 3 followed by the Regional round on Friday, May 10.
Doubles results:
1. #52 Alex Brown/Aleks Kovacevic (Illini) def. #36 Constant De La Bassetiere/Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) 6-1
2. Ben Lieb/Matt Galush (PSU) Vuk Budic/Gui Gomes (Illini) 6-4
3. Christian Lakoseljac/Christos Antonopoulos def. Fletcher Scott/Zeke Clark (Illini) 6-3
Singles Results:
1. #9 Aleks Kovacevic (Illini) def. #28 Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU) 6-3, 6-3
2. #51 Alex Brown (Illini) def. #91 Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) 6-2, 7-6 (5)
3. Zeke Clark (Illini) def. Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) 6-2, 6-0
4. Shiphosothando Montsi def. (Illini) Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) 6-3, 6-3
5. Ben Lieb (PSU) def. Keenan Mayo (Illini) 6-3, 6-4
6. Vuk Budic (Illini) vs. Alp Sentay (PSU) 7-5, 3-2, unfinished
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 Penn State Men's Tennis and follow our twitter @pennstateMTEN.