UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State men's tennis (5-7, 5-7 B1G) dropped its first home match of the season Saturday afternoon against No. 19 Ohio State (14-2, 11-1 B1G) by a final score of 7-0 in the Sarni Tennis Center.
"I felt like we battled hard," head coach Jeff Zinn said. "We didn't start off with our normal energy in doubles. Some first sets didn't go our way, but then after that we started to play well about an hour into the match. The guys on one side were fighting hard and the guys on the other side were fighting hard, just not winning the big points that we needed to. Ohio State is the team to beat, but we didn't start well enough to beat a team like them. We finished hard and played well at the end. We will try to build on that for next weekend on the road."
DOUBLES
Ohio State secured the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and 3.
Buckeyes' Cannon Kingsley and JJ Tracy handed Sam Bossem (Wimborne Minster, United Kingdom) and Miko Eala (Philippines/Manacor, Spain) their first loss as a doubles team by a score of 6-1.
On court two, Ohio State's duo of No. 68 John McNally and Robert Cash defeated Tim Ruetzel (Munich, Germany) and Charl Morgan (Johannesburg, South Africa) 6-0 to clinch the doubles win.
At No. 1, partners Christian Lakoseljac (King City, Ontario, Canada) and Christos Antonopoulos' (Athens, Greece) match against #58 James Trotter and Justin Boulais went unfinished with a score of 1-5.
SINGLES
The Buckeyes carried their momentum from doubles to sweep the Nittany Lions in singles play.
Ohio State extended its lead to 2-0 as Antonopoulos was defeated by JJ Tracy in straight sets 6-0, 6-2. The Buckeyes built a 4-0 lead to clinch the match after Ohio State's James Trotter pulled out a win over Eala 6-3, 6-4.
The two teams played out the remaining three matches.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions are back on the road and look to earn a regular season sweep over Indiana on Saturday, April 10 and at Purdue on Sunday, April 11.
RESULTS
Ohio State 7, Penn State 0
Doubles results:
1. Christian Lakoseljac/Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) vs. #58 James Trotter/Justin Boulais (OSU) 1-5, unfinished
2. #68 John McNally/Robert Cash (OSU) def. Tim Ruetzel/Charl Morgan (PSU) 6-0
3. Cannon Kingsley/JJ Tracy (OSU) def. Sam Bossem/Miko Eala (PSU) 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 2
Singles results:
1. #46 Cannon Kingsley (OSU) def. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) 6-2, 6-3
2. #35 John McNally (OSU) def. Bora Sengul (PSU) 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-8)
3. James Trotter (OSU) def. Miko Eala (PSU) 6-3, 6-4
4. Kyle Seelig (OSU) def. Tim Ruetzel (PSU) 6-0, 3-6, 7-5
5. JJ Tracy (OSU) def. Christos Antonopoulos (PSU) 6-0, 6-2
6. #104 Robert Cash (OSU) def. Alp Sentay (PSU) 6-4, 7-5
Order of finish: 5, 1, 3, 6, 2, 4
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.