UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's tennis team earned a thrilling 4-3 win over Penn before picking up a dominant 7-0 victory against Bucknell to sweep doubleheader action Sunday at the Indoor Tennis Center.
PENN
Doubles
After Gabriel Nemeth and Alp Sentay defeated the Penn pair on court 2, 6-3, the doubles point came down to court one. Christian Lakoseljac and Christos Antonopolous fought for a 6-3 decision to clinch the doubles point and give Penn State a 1-0 lead over the Quakers.
Singles
A gutsy second set helped Lakoseljac defeated Penn's Kevin Zhu 6-3, 7-5 to give Penn State a 2-0 match lead.
Penn evened the match at 2-2 thanks to wins in the second and third flights of singles, but Lakoseljac answered on court four to give Penn State back the momentum with a dramatic win. After dropping the first set 3-6 to Penn's Jason Hildebrandt, Lakoseljac earned a dominant 6-2 win in the second set before fighting for a clutch 7-5 win in the third set as Penn State jumped back in front, 3-2.
The Quakers knotted the match once again at 3-3 thanks to a win in the fifth flight, bringing the match down to Alp Sentay and Penn's Harsh Parikh at No. 6 singles. Sentay won the first set convincingly, 6-2, but Parikh made it interesting in the third set to send it to tiebreak. Parikh won the first two tiebreak points, but Sentay battled back with six straight to earn the 6-2, 7-6 (6) victory and clinch the 4-3 match win for Penn State.
BUCKNELL
Doubles
Penn State made quick work of the doubles point against the Bison as Sentay and Nemeth earned a 6-1 win at No. 2 doubles. Noah Sutter and Chikaya Sato followed with a 6-2 decision at No. 3 doubles to give Penn State the 1-0 match lead.
Singles
Ismail Saadi grabbed the first singles point for Penn State at No. 2 singles with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Bucknell's Michael Owen to put the Nittany Lions ahead 2-0.
Chris Kuhnle battled back after dropping the first set, 2-6, against Bucknell's Cooper Bradshaw to win the second and third sets 6-2 and 6-3, respectively. Charl Morgan then clinched the 4-0 Nittany Lion win with a 6-4, 7-6 (7) win over Marwan Abaza.
As the teams continued to play out, Sato fought back for a 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2 win over Ryan Jurist. Andrei Papuraru cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Sam Yildirimlar at No. 6 singles. Sutter then secured the 7-0 sweep with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Guillermo Torres at No. 5 singles.
RESULTS
Penn State 4, Penn 3
Doubles Results
- No. 29 Christian Lakoseljac/Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) def. Dmitry Shatalin/Kevin Zhu (Penn) 6-3
- Gabriel Nemeth/Alp Sentay (PSU) def. Edoardo Graziani/Zach Smith (Penn) 6-3
- Aditya Gupta/Harsh Parikh (Penn) def. Charl Morgan/Noah Sutter (PSU) 6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles Results
- Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) def. Kevin Zhu (Penn) 6-3, 7-5
- Edoardo Graziani (Penn) def. Charl Morgan (PSU) 6-4, 6-2
- Dmitry Shatalin (Penn) def. Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) 6-4, 7-5
- Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) def. Jason Hildebrandt (Penn) 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
- Aditya Gupta (Penn) def. Ismail Saadi (PSU) 6-0, 6-7 (7)
- Alp Sentay (PSU) def. Harsh Parikh (Penn) 6-2, 7-6 (6)
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Penn State 7, Bucknell 0
Doubles Results
- No. 29 Christian Lakoseljac/Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) vs. Michael Owen/Cooper Bradshaw (Bucknell) 4-4, unfinished
- Alp Sentay/Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) def. Ryan Jurist/Marwan Abaza (Bucknell) 6-1
- Noah Sutter/Chikaya Sato (PSU) def. Guillermo Torres/Sam Yildirmlar (Bucknell) 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 3
Singles Results
- Charl Morgan (PSU) def. Marwan Abaza (Bucknell) 6-4, 7-6 (7)
- Ismail Saadi (PSU) def. Michael Owen (Bucknell) 6-3, 6-2
- Chris Kuhnle (PSU) def. Cooper Bradshaw (Bucknell) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
- Chikaya Sato (PSU) def. Ryan Jurist (Bucknell) 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2
- Noah Sutter (PSU) def. Guillermo Torres (Bucknell) 7-5, 6-4
- Andrei Paduraru (PSU) def. Sam Yildirimlar (Bucknell) 6-1, 6-0
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1, 4, 6, 5
UP NEXT
Penn State opens Big Ten play on Saturday, Feb. 29 when the Nittany Lions travel to Michigan. First serve is slated for noon.