Winston-Salem, N.C. – After dropping a closely contested doubles point, Penn State men's tennis couldn't come back to stop Kentucky on the way to its 4-1 win at ITA Kickoff Weekend.
The Wildcats then took all but one singles match, with two other contests going unfinished, to clinch the victory.
"Not bad for our first match of the year," head coach Jeff Zinn said. "We fought hard and created chances to win. At this level it's all about margins and taking opportunities when they arise. We will get better, but I was really impressed with how our freshmen handled the tough environment today. Tomorrow will be another step for us and hopefully it goes well."
"Kentucky came into the season top-ranked team," associate head coach Paul Tobin said. "They already have three solid wins under their belt so they were well prepared. The guys fought hard in singles and the freshmen in the lineup looked good. All in all, we did well for our first dual match and now we have some work to do."
DOUBLES
The Nittany Lions fought hard but couldn't come away with the doubles point to start off the match.
On the second doubles court, the pair of No. 33 Christian Lakoseljac and Christos Antonopoulos won their match against Liam Draxl and Cesar Bourgois, 6-4.
The freshmen duo of Charl Morgan and Ismail Saadi had a chance to close out the match on the last doubles court but fell short in a close battle to Alexandre Leblanc and Kevin Huempfner, 7-5.
SINGLES
Penn State earned a lone singles win, with two other matches going unfinished.
Morgan earned his first collegiate victory against Kentucky's Gabriel Diallo, 6-3, 6-3.
Lakoseljac and Saadi both won the second set of their matches to force a final set before both contests went unfinished.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will play the non-winning team of Wake Forest and East Tennessee State on Saturday at 2 p.m.
RESULTS
Kentucky 4, Penn State 1
Doubles results:
1. No. 33 Christian Lakoseljac/Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) def. Liam Draxl/Cesar Bourgois (UK) 6-4
2. Gabriel Diallo/Millen Hurrion (UK) def. Gabriel Nemeth/Alp Sentay (PSU) 6-1
3. Alexandre Leblanc/Kevin Huempfner (UK) def. Charl Morgan/Ismail Saadi (PSU) 7-5
Singles results:
1. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) vs. Millen Hurrion (UK) 1-6, 6-3, 2-2, unfinished
2. Charl Morgan (PSU) def. Gabriel Diallo (UK) 6-3, 6-3
3. Cesar Bourgois (UK) def. Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) 6-1, 6-4
4. No. 55 Alexandre Leblanc (UK) def. Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Kento Yamada (UK) def. Chikaya Sato (PSU) 6-1, 6-4
6. Ismail Saadi (PSU) vs. Kevin Huempfner (UK) 4-6, 6-3, unfinished
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