NEW YORK, N.Y. – The #34 Penn State men's tennis team put up a strong fight, but it wasn't enough in a 4-0 loss at #16 Columbia in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday afternoon.
Penn State sees its strong season come to an end at 20-9 overall. The Nittany Lions advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in program history and picked up a win in the tournament for the fifth time.
Senior Constant De La Bassetiere will continue his season as he has earned a bid to the NCAA Singles Championship. He will compete following the completion of the NCAA Tournament team competition May 20-25 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando.
"We waited out a rain delay, but ultimately went indoors," said head coach Jeff Zinn. "We battled hard at every court and needed to find a couple of points in close situations. Losing the doubles point was a factor that hurt us. I give credit to Columbia, they are a very good team and well coached. It's a sad time for our three seniors who competed for the last time as Nittany Lions. They battled to the end and incredibly well today and throughout their careers."
"This was a great season and unfortunately it had to come to a close today," said associate head coach Paul Tobin. "We certainly have much to be proud of. Columbia is ranked #16 for a reason and they made us step up and we fell short. We thought we could get the three points if we took doubles, but I thought Columbia had the edge when we went inside at their place."
DOUBLES
Columbia took a 1-0 match lead after winning the doubles point. Rian Pandole and Victor Pham earned a 6-2 win over Christian Lakoseljac and Christos Antonopouls in No. 2 doubles. The #30 duo of William Matheson and Jack Lin then took down Penn State's 45th-ranked pair of De La Bassetiere and Gabriel Nemeth, 6-3, to clinch the doubles point.
Ben Lieb and Matt Galush held a 5-4 lead in their match at No. 3 doubles before Columbia clinched the doubles point.
SINGLES
#16 Columbia took a 2-0 match lead after Timothy Wang won a 6-4, 6-1 battle over Ben Lieb at No. 5 singles.
Columbia's Austen Huang then defeated Alp Sentay 6-3, 6-0 at No. 6 singles. #107 Adam Ambrozy clinched the match victory at No. 3 singles, 7-6, 6-0, over Nemeth to send the Lions to their second-straight NCAA Sweet 16.
UP NEXT
Constant De La Bassetiere will continue on this season as he has earned a bid to the NCAA Singles Championship. He will compete following the completion of the NCAA Tournament team competition May 20-25 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando.
#16 COLUMBIA 4, #34 PENN STATE 0
Doubles
1. #30 William Matheson/Jack Lin (COL) def. #45 Constant De La Bassetiere/Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) 6-3
2. Rian Pandole/Victor Pham (COL) def. Christian Lakoseljac/Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) 6-2
3. Ben Lieb/Matt Galush (PSU) vs. Jason Lui/Adam Ambrozy (COL) 5-4, unfinished
Order of Finish: 2,1
Singles
1. #29 Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU) vs. #37 Victor Pham (COL) 5-7, 3-3, unfinished
2. #105 Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) vs. #22 Jack Lin (COL) 4-6, 6-1, unfinished
3. Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) vs. #107 Adam Ambrozy (COL) 6-7, 0-6
4. Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) vs. #117 Rian Pandole (COL) 7-5, 4-1, unfinished
5. Ben Lieb (PSU) vs. Timothy Wang (COL) 4-6, 6-1
6. Alp Sentay (PSU) vs. Austen Huang (COL) 3-6, 0-6
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 3
