UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State men's tennis (1-3, 1-3 B1G) earned its first victory of the season in a thrilling singles comeback on Saturday against the Indiana Hoosiers (2-3, 2-3 B1G). The match came down to court six, where Tim Ruetzel clinched the win for the Nittany Lions.
"That was an intense match, especially when you don't have fans," head coach Jeff Zinn said. "So, the only way to generate any kind of emotion or energy is through your team and I think we did that really well today. It's finally nice to be home. Overall, I couldn't be prouder of Tim, our seniors Christos and Christian and our super freshman Miko Eala. I can't say enough about him under pressure. We beat a really good team today."
"It was a great first team win," Tim Ruetzel said. "It was our first home match and first win of the season. It all came together well. Lako, Christos and I all stepped up and Miko our freshman came in clutch. The first win of the year feels good."
"This was college tennis at its best," associate head coach Paul Tobin said. The boys pulled it out and got the W. Kudos to Tim on the clinch. We have to get it together in doubles; we have a lot of talented players that need to step up and secure the doubles point."
DOUBLES
The Nittany Lions put up a hard-fought contest, but the Hoosiers clinched the first point of the match with a win on courts one and three.
At the No. 3 spot, partners Alp Sentay (Izmar, Turkey) and Bora Sengul (Denizli, Turkey) fell to Ilya Trasposky and William Piekarsky 2-6.
#40 Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario, Canada) and Christos Antonopoulos (Athens, Greece) battled against Bennett Crane and Michael Andre, but came up short 4-6.
On court two, Tim Ruetzel (Munich, Germany) and Charl Morgan's (Johannesburg, South Africa) match went unfinished with a score 4-5.
SINGLES
Rookie Bora Sengul was defeated by Andrew Redding 2-6, 1-6 as Indiana climbed to a 2-0 lead.
Christos Antonopoulos was the first Nittany Lion to put a point on the board for Penn State, dominating Vikash Singh in straight sets 6-2, 6-4.
Miko Eala (Philippines/Manacor, Spain) improved to 3-1 in singles action for the season as he swept Carson Haskins 7-5, 6-2 on court four to tie the score 2-2.
At the No. 1 spot Christian Lakoseljac defeated #48 Bennett Crane in a third set tiebreak, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(6) lifting the Nittany Lions to a 3-2 edge. Lakoseljac earned his second win against a ranked singles opponent this season.
Indiana's Luka Vukovic defeated Charl Morgan (Johannesburg, South Africa) in straight sets to tie the score again at 3-3.
At the No. 6 spot, Tim Ruetzel earned his first singles win of the season and clinched the match for the Nittany Lions as he defeated Michael Andre 6-2, 6-4.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions look to win their second consecutive Big Ten match and will face Purdue on Sunday, March 7 at 11 a.m.
RESULTS
Penn State 4, Indiana 3
Doubles results:
1. Michael Andre/Bennett (IU) Crane def. #40 Christian Lakoseljac/Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) 6-4
2. Charl Morgan/Tim Ruetzel (PSU) vs. Andrew Redding/Patrick Fletchall (IU) 4-5, unfinished
3. Ilya Tirapolsky/William Piekarsky (IU) def. Bora Sengul/Alp Sentay (PSU) 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 1
Singles results:
1. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) #48 Bennett Crane (IU)
2. Andrew Redding (IU) def. Bora Sengul (PSU) 6-2, 6-1
3. Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) def. Vikash Singh (IU) 6-2, 6-4
4. Miko Eala (PSU) def. Carson Haskins (IU) 7-5, 6-2
5. Luke Vukovic (IU) def. Charl Morgan (PSU) 6-3, 6-0
6. Tim Ruetzel (PSU) def. Michael Andre (IU) 6-2, 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 4, 1, 5, 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.