EVANSTON, Ill. — After losing the doubles point Saturday afternoon, the Penn State men's tennis team (0-2, 0-2 B1G) was unable to rebound in singles. The Nittany Lions fell to No. 25 Northwestern (2-2, 1-0 B1G) 6-1.
"I am disappointed we lost, but our true freshmen are really playing well," head coach Jeff Zinn said. "They both competed to the very end as well as some of the other players. We need to get Christos back in our lineup to give us a veteran presence in both doubles and singles. Losing the doubles point has hurt us against these Top 25 teams."
"Tough day today," associate head coach Paul Tobin said. "There was quality tennis on most courts and we just came up short on key points. Courts were much slower than what the guys are used to, some adjusted well, while others struggled closing out points sooner. Great job to our freshman Miko for picking up a win over a veteran Northwestern player."
DOUBLES
The Nittany Lions put up a strong fight, but Northwestern came out on top winning on courts two and three to claim the doubles point.
Doubles partners Alp Sentay (Izmar, Turkey) and Bora Sengul (Denizli, Turkey) fell to Chris Ephron and Dominik Stary 4-6.
On court three, Northwestern's duo in Gleb Bleker and Natan Spear defeated Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario, Canada) and Miko Eala (Philippines/Manacor, Spain) 6-2.
The pair of Tim Ruetzel (Munich, Germany) and Charl Morgan's (Johannesburg, South Africa) match against Nick Brookes and Simen Bratholm went unfinished with a score of 4-5.
SINGLES
Penn State's two freshmen battled hard, extending their respective matches to three sets.
Rookie Miko Eala put the lone point on the board for the Nittany Lions, earning his second consecutive singles win at the No. 4 spot. He defeated junior Trice Pickens in three sets 3-6, 6-3, 10-8.
In back-and-forth action, freshman Bora Sengul fell to Nick Brookes in a competitive match 5-7, 7-6, 9-11.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will travel to No. 9 Ohio State for its third consecutive ranked road matchup on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 3 p.m.
RESULTS
Northwestern 6, Penn State 1
Doubles results:
1. #57 Nick Brookes/Simen Bratholm (NU) vs. Tim Ruetzel/Charl Morgan (PSU) 4-5, unfinished
2. Chris Ephron/Dominik Stary (NU) def. Alp Sentay/Bora Sengul (PSU) 6-4
3. Gleb Blekher/Natan Spear (NU) def. Christian Lakoseljac/Miko Eala (PSU) 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1 (unfinished)
Singles results:
1. #58 Dominik Stary (NU) def. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) 7-6, 5-2
2. Nick Brookes (NU) def. Bora Sengul (PSU) 5-7, 7-6, 1-0 (11-9)
3. Chris Ephron (NU) def. Charl Morgan (PSU) 6-2, 6-4
4. Miko Eala (PSU) def. Trice Pickens (NU) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8)
5. Simen Bratholm (NU) def. Tim Ruetzel (PSU) 6-4, 6-2
6. Presley Thieneman (NU) def. Chikaya Sato (PSU) 6-1, 6-1
Order of finish: 6, 1, 5, 3, 4, 2
Check GoPSUSports.com for coverage of the Penn State men's tennis team during the season. Follow the team on Twitter @pennstateMTEN, Instagram @pennstatemtennis and on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstatemenstennis.