UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's tennis team (8-1) earned a hard-fought 4-3 victory over the Princeton Tigers (2-5) on Friday night in the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center.
"I'm really proud of the team today, the effort from all the players," said head coach Jeff Zinn. "You don't get many chances during the year to play teams that made the NCAA's and when you have those opportunities, you have to make the most of it. I thought last week when we let one slip away from us, we didn't play our best tennis. Tonight, we played our best tennis and when you when you play like that as a group, and everyone comes together it permeates the whole team and everybody plays well. I thought it all started in doubles and doubles teams are firing on all cylinders. We've got to keep that throughout the year. Charl Morgan played an incredible match this evening, losing the first set and then coming back and ultimately winning the match for us in three sets. Loren Byers was tremendous and Miko Eala was really our anchor today. The whole team is going to have to come back together and take on a really well-coached William & Mary team on Sunday."
DOUBLES
The Nittany Lions won the doubles point with victories on courts two and three.
Miko Eala and Stefan Simeunovic took down Princeton's Sebastian Sec and Ellis Short in a 6-1 descision on court three. Clinching the point for Penn State, Sam Bossem and Loren Byers earned their eight straight doubles win over Thomas Bonsancic and Filippos Astreinidis 6-3.
Malik Bhatnagar and Charl Morgan went 5-5, unfinished on No. 1 versus Fnu Nidunjianzan and Will Peters.
SINGLES
On court four, Sam Bossem fell to Bosancic, 6-2, 6-4. The Nittany Lions went on to claim three straight courts to clinch the match.
Eala defeated Sec in a 6-3, 6-3 contest, before Byers earned a 6-3, 7-6(2) victory over Peters on No. 2. Morgan ended up clinching the match in a huge comeback on court one against Nidunjianzan, 0-6, 6-1, 6-4.
On No. 4, Simeunovic was defeated by Ellis Short 6-4, 6-4, before Bhatnagar fell in a tough three set super tiebreaker 7-6(4), 2-6, [8-10] to Astreinidies.
RESULTS
Penn State 4, Princeton 3
Doubles Results
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Malik Bhatnagar/Charl Morgan (PSU) vs. Fnu Nidunjianzan/Will Peters (PRIN) 5-5, unfinished
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Sam Bossem/Loren Byers (PSU) def. Thomas Bosancic/Filippos Astreinidis (PRIN) 6-3
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Miko Eala/Stefan Simeunovic (PSU) def. Sebastian Sec/Ellis Short (PRIN) 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 2
Singles Results
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Charl Morgan (PSU) def. Fnu Nidunjianzan (PRIN) 0-6, 6-1, 6-4
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Loren Byers (PSU) def. Will Peters (PRIN) 6-3, 7-6(2)
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Miko Eala (PSU) def. Sebastian Sec (PRIN) 6-3, 6-3
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Thomas Bosancic (PRIN) def. Sam Bossem (PSU) 6-2, 6-4
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Ellis Short (PRIN) def. Stefan Simeunovic (PSU) 6-4
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Filippos Astreinidies (PRIN) def. Malik Bhatnagar (PSU) 6-7(4), 6-2, [10-8]
Order of finish: 4, 3, 2, 1, 5, 6
"This was a huge win against a very good and well-coached Princeton team," said associate head coach Paul Tobin. "Taking the doubles point and sweeping one through three in singles just shows what we are capable of when we focus. This was high-quality college tennis, but we need to be consistent and maintain this energy."
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will be back at home on Sunday, Feb. 12, to take on William & Mary at noon ET.
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.