LINCOLN, Neb. — Penn State men's tennis (7-10, 7-9 B1G) fell to Nebraska (2-15, 1-15 B1G) by a final score of 4-2 Thursday afternoon in the first round of the Big Ten men's tennis tournament.
"Not the way I expected this match to turn out," associate head coach Paul Tobin said. "We let huge leads slip away in both singles and doubles. Hats off to Nebraska. It has been a challenging year for them and they kept fighting to get a big win at home."
DOUBLES
The doubles point came down to wire where Nebraska clinched the first point of the contest with wins at No. 2 and 3.
At No. 1, Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario, Canada) and Bora Sengul (Denizli, Turkey) earned a victory against Victor Moreno Lozano and Albert Sprlak-Puk, 6-2. The pair improved to 2-0 as a doubles team this season.
Tim Ruetzel (Munich, Germany) and Miko Eala (Philippines/Manacor, Spain) fell to Huskers' duo of Nic Wiedenhorn and Shunya Maruyama, 7-5 at No. 2.
On court three, Christos Antonopoulos (Athens, Greece) and Alp Sentay (Izmar, Turkey) came up short against Patrick Cacciatore and William Gleason, 7-5.
SINGLES
The Huskers first earned wins at No. 1 and No. 5 to extend their lead to 3-0. The Nittany Lions stormed back to claim two singles victories, but were unable to complete the comeback.
Miko Eala defeated Victor Moreno Lozano in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 to put the Nittany Lions on the board. With the win, Eala holds a 12-5 overall record in singles play and is 7-3 at No. 3.
To bring the score within one, Bora Sengul improved to 7-7 at the No. 2 slot as he earned a win in three sets over Nebraska's William Gleason 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
At No. 6, Huskers' Patrick Cacciatore clinched the match over Charl Morgan (Johannesburg, South Africa) in a third set tiebreak 2-6, 6-4, 7-6.
Ruetzel's match against Albert Sprlak-Puk was left unfinished by a score of 5-7, 7-6, 3-1.
RESULTS
Nebraska 4, Penn State 2
Doubles results:
1. Christian Lakoseljac/Bora Sengul (PSU) def. Victor Moreno Lozano/Albert Sprlak-Puk (NEB) 6-2
2. Nic Wiedenhorn/Shunya Maruyama (NEB) def. Tim Ruetzel/Miko Eala (PSU) 7-5
3. Patrick Cacciatore/William Gleason (NEB) def. Christos Antonopoulos/Alp Sentay (PSU) 7-5
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles results:
1. Shunya Maruyama (NEB) def. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Bora Sengul (PSU) def. William Gleason (NEB) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
3. Miko Eala (PSU) def. Victor Moreno Lozano (NEB) 7-5, 6-4
4. Tim Ruetzel (PSU) vs. Albert Sprlak-Puk (NEB) 5-7, 7-6, 3-1, unfinished
5. Nic Wiedenhorn (NEB) def. Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) 1-6, 6-2, 6-2
6. Patrick Cacciatore (NEB) def. Charl Morgan (PSU) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(9)
Order of finish: 1, 5, 3, 2, 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.