COLUMBUS, Ohio — Penn State men's tennis (0-3, 0-3 B1G) reached the end of its third straight road contest, falling to No. 7 Ohio State (6-1, 3-0 B1G) Saturday afternoon in the Varsity Indoor Tennis Center.
"We all knew that beating Ohio State at their place was going to be a challenge and everyone needed to get ready to play aggressive," said associate head coach Paul Tobin. "The Buckeyes are a very well coached team and we couldn't get any real momentum going. However, we are looking forward to finally getting back home and competing on our courts."
DOUBLES
Penn State fought in doubles, but Ohio State walked away with the first point of the match with wins on court one and three.
Fifth-year senior Christos Antonopoulos (Athens, Greece) made his season debut for the Nittany Lions. No. 40 doubles duo Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario, Canada) and Antonopoulos came up short, losing 4-6 to the fifth-ranked doubles pair in John McNally and Robert Cash.
On court two, doubles partners Tim Ruetzel (Munich, Germany) and Charl Morgan (Johannesburg, South Africa) left their match unfinished in a tight 3-5 battle against James Trotter and Justin Boulais.
The pair of Alp Sentay (Izmar, Turkey) and Bora Sengul (Denizli, Turkey) fell to JJ Tracy and Cannon Kingsley 2-6.
SINGLES
Ohio State opened singles play with a win to extend its lead 2-0 as Morgan was defeated by #25 Kyle Seelig 2-6, 0-6.
The Buckeyes built a 4-0 lead to clinch the match after Ohio State's #80 James Trotter was victorious against Antonopoulos in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.
The two teams played out the remaining three matches. In three competitive sets, Lakoseljac fell to #5 Cannon Kinglsey 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6).
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will look to rebound in their home opener next weekend against Indiana on Saturday, March 6 and Purdue on Sunday, March 7.
RESULTS
Ohio State 7, Penn State 0
Doubles results:
1. #4 John McNally/Robert Cash (OSU) def. #40 Christian Lakoseljac/Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) 6-4
2. #37 James Trotter/Justin Boulais (OSU) vs. Tim Ruetzel/Charl Morgan (PSU) 5-3, unfinished
3. Cannon Kingsley/JJ Tracy (OSU) def. Alp Sentay/Bora Sengul (PSU) 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2 (unfinished)
Singles results:
1. #5 Cannon Kingsley (OSU) def. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6)
2. #11 John McNally (OSU) def. Bora Sengul (PSU) 6-2, 6-2
3. #80 James Trotter (OSU) def. Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) 6-3, 6-3
4. #25 Kyle Seelig (OSU) def. Charl Morgan (PSU) 6-2, 6-0
5. JJ Tracy (OSU) def. Miko Eala (PSU) 6-2, 6-3
6. Robert Cash (OSU) def. Tim Ruetzel (PSU) 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 4, 2, 3, 5, 1, 6
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.