UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's tennis (6-0) swept Mount St. Mary's (0-1) and Drexel (2-2) in a doubleheader at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center on Saturday. The Nittany Lions earned two more dual wins, improving to 6-0 and their best start to a season since 2015-16.
"I like what we did today," said head coach Jeff Zinn. "Mount St. Mary's andDrexel gave us great matches today. I can't believe it's the first time we've ever played Drexel. They have a very good team, a very good program. It's nice to get a win. It's nice that we got some players to play that hadn't played a lot before, which is good. They kept us moving in the right direction, momentum wise and that was important. Overall, Mount St. Mary's came in and did exactly what we wanted. We wanted to get good matches. Now, we move onto another stepping stone for us tomorrow against UPenn. They are a great program and an NCAA team last year. This is what all this preparation has built up to."
MOUNT ST. MARY'S
DOUBLES
The Nittany Lions swept all three doubles courts to clinch the point.
Partners Pranav Nemani and Andrei Paduraru finished first as they took down the Mount's Filippos Zachiotis and Jarett Karnibad in a 6-1 contest. Sam Bossem and Loren Byers earned their fifth straight doubles win across from Luke Papayoanou and Marcel Cronin, 6-1, to secure the point. On No. 1, duo Malik Bhatnagar and Charl Morgan finished the sweep for Penn State after defeating Elliot Stevens and Giovanni Abriola 6-2 for a 5-0 doubles record on the season.
SINGLES
Penn State closed out the 7-0 sweep versus Mount St. Mary's with wins on all six courts.
Miko Eala grabbed the first singles point in straight sets 6-0, 6-0 over Zachiotis. Bhatnagar followed up with a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Nick Huynh on court 4. Byers clinched the match for the Nittany Lions in a 6-4, 6-3 contest versus the Mount's Elliot Stevens on No. 1.
Nemani earned Penn State's its fourth singles point in a 6-4, 6-1 win opposite Karnibad. On No.5, Ismail Saadi took down Pablo Zuccardi Martinez in a 7-5, 6-3 decision. Paduraru completed the sweep with a 6-3, 7-5 victory on court six.
RESULTS
Penn State 7, Mount St. Mary's 0
Doubles Results
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Malik Bhatnagar/Charl Morgan (PSU) def. Elliot Stevens/Giovanni Abriola (MOUNT) 6-2
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Sam Bossem/Loren Byers (PSU) def. Luke Papayoanou/Marcel Cronin (MOUNT) 6-2
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Pranav Nemani/Andrei Paduraru (PSU) def. Filippos Zachiotis/Jarett Karnibad (MOUNT) 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles Results
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Loren Byers (PSU) def. Elliot Stevens (MOUNT) 6-4, 6-3
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Miko Eala (PSU) def. Filippos Zachiotis (MOUNT) 6-0, 6-0
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Pranav Nemani (PSU) def. Jarett Karnibad (MOUNT) 6-4, 6-1
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Malik Bhatnagar (PSU) def. Nick Huynh (MOUNT) 6-0, 6-1
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Ismail Saadi (PSU) def. Pablo Zuccardi Martinez (MOUNT) 7-5,
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Andrei Paduraru (PSU) def. Marcel Cronin (MOUNT) 6-3, 7-5
Order of finish: 2, 4, 1, 3, 5, 6
DREXEL
DOUBLES
Penn State carried out wins on all three doubles courts to take the doubles point against Drexel.
Sam Bossem and Loren Byers won their match against Djordje Janackovic and Gustav Wogen, 6-4. Malik Bhatnagar and Char Morgan executed a hard-fought victory over Alana Jesudason and Alex Sousa, 7-5.
To finish out the doubles sweep, Stefan Simeunovic and Miko Eala defeated Juan Sanchez and Pierre Humayou, 7-6 ().
SINGLES
The Nittany Lions took wins on all six singles courts to carry out their second sweep of the day. Miko Eala easily defeated Alex De Sousa, 6-1, 6-0, to give the Blue and White its first singles win over Drexel.
Sam Bossem added a win at the No. 2 singles position over Daniel Dudockin, 6-3, 6-2. Stefan Simeunovic won his match versus Hugo Brungs, 6-4, 7-5.
Andrei Paduraru declared victory over Pierre Humayou, 3-6, 6-2, 10-6. Charl Morgan fought hard to come back from a deficit against Alan Jesudason. He ultimately won 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5).
Pranav Nemani finised out the sweep over Drexel with a win versus Juan Sanchez, 6-4, 6-1.
RESULTS
Penn State 7, Drexel 0
Doubles Results
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Malik Bhatnagar/Charl Morgan (PSU) def. Alan Jesudason/Alex De Sousa (DRX) 7-5
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Sam Bossem/Loren Byers (PSU) def. Djordje Janackovic/Gustav Wogen (DRX) 6-4
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Miko Eala/Stefan Simuenovic (PSU) vs. Juan Sanchez/Pierre Humayou (DRX) 7-6 (7-3)
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles Results
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Charl Morgan (PSU) def. Alan Jesudason (DRX) 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5)
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Miko Eala (PSU) def. Alex De Sousa (DRX) 6-1, 6-0
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Sam Bossem (PSU) def. Daniel Dudockin (DRX) 6-3, 6-2
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Stefan Simeunovic (PSU) def. Zamaan Moledina (DRX) 6-4, 7-5
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Pranav Nemani (PSU) def. Juan Sanchez (DRX) 6-4, 6-1
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Andrei Paduraru (PSU) def. Pierre Humayou (DRX) 3-6, 6-2, 10-6
Order of finish: 2, 3, 4, 6, 1, 5
"These were solid wins, and the guys really stepped up in both doubles and singles," said associate head coach Paul Tobin. "We are really focused this year, and these matches are giving everybody the confidence that they could do the things that they need in order to be successful out there. The big test will be tomorrow against UPenn, but if we just continue to focus on ourselves, and what we need to do, we should be victorious."
UP NEXT
Penn State will take on UPenn and Villanova in more doubleheader action on Sunday, Feb. 5 at 11 and 3 p.m. 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.