LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Penn State men's tennis faced off against the Old Dominion Monarchs in another strong showing on the court on Day 2 of the Liberty Hidden Dual.
Doubles
The Nittany Lions swept their doubles play on Saturday. Charl Morgan and Miko Eala defeated Old Dominion partners Younes Lalami and Luca Maldoner, 6-4. The duo of Malik Bhatnagar and Sam Bossem won their second doubles match of the tournament, defeating Oliver Nolan and Codie Van Schalkwyk, 6-4. In the final match of the day, Bora Sengul and Alexander Karman took down Monarchs Yehven Sirous and Oliver Tobisch.
This is the second time this fall season that the Nittany Lions have swept their doubles competition in tournament play. They last did it at the Penn Invitational against the Drexel Dragons in September.
Singles
Penn State won four singles matches on the day. Eala, Morgan, and Bhatnagar defeated their opponents and collected two wins against Old Dominion. Taking down Sirous, Eala won 6-4, 6-4. Morgan faced off against Van Schalkwyk and took the match in a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 decision. Bhatnagar bested Nolan 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to win Penn State's third singles match. Playing an outside match against Penn, Ondrej Ctverak defeated his opponent 6-1, 6-3.
The Nittany Lions fell in four singles matches. Losing to Lalami, Chikaya Sato was defeated 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. In a very close match, Bossem was bested by Tobisch, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(8). Sengul lost 6-2, 6-1 to Maldoner, while Ismail Saadi was beaten by Michael Walser.
"The guys played unbelievable against Liberty and Old Dominion in both doubles and singles," said Associate Head Coach Paul Tobin. "This is what they needed to get their confidence going in the right direction. We have been focusing a lot on singles tactics and it's starting to really sink in."
Action at the Liberty Hidden Dual concludes Sunday.
