UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's tennis team (7-1) fell to the Penn Quakers (2-2) in a 4-2 dual match, before beating the Villanova Wildcats (1-3) 6-1.
"I'm disappointed that we couldn't keep our momentum going into the first match," said head coach Jeff Zinn. "I thought that this is what we prepared for. I give Penn a lot of credit. They were just a little bit better than us today. We got the first point, then they were just too strong for us and singles. I'm really proud of Sam, he was really today. I think he played one of his best matches ever. The rest of us, we've got some work ahead of us. Hopefully, we can rectify some of the issues and create another winning streak going forward. That's our goal. A little bit about the Villanova match. I'm glad we bounced back from this morning. That's a good win for us.
PENN
DOUBLES
The Nittany Lions won courts two and three to clinch the doubles point.
Sam Bossem and Loren Byers downed Penn's Manfredi Graziani and Kian Vakili in a 6-4 decision on No. 3 to finish first. Securing the point for Penn State, Stefan Simeunovic and Miko Eala defeated Aditya Gupta and Harsh Parikh, 6-3.
Malik Bhatnagar and Charl Morgan came back from three points down on court one to go unfinished 5-6 versus #7-ranked doubles pairing Edoardo Graziani and Kevin Zhu.
SINGLES
The Quakers won four singles courts to secure the match.
On court three, Morgan fell to Gupta in a 6-1, 6-2 decision. Bossem regained the lead for the Nittany Lions on court four over ranked opponent #102 Parikh 6-1, 6-2.
Byers lost to E. Graziani, 6-1, 6-4, before Eala lost on No. 3 to Zhu in a 7-5, 6-1 contest. Penn clinched the match on court 5 when Baylor Sai defeated Pranav Nemani, 6-3, 6-0.
Bhatnagar's match against M. Graziani was left unfinished, 4-6, 1-4.
RESULTS
Penn 4, Penn State 2
Doubles Results
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Malik Bhatnagar/Charl Morgan (PSU) vs. #7 Edoardo Graziani/Kevin Zhu (PENN) 5-6, unfinished
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Miko Eala/Stefan Simeunovic (PSU) def. Aditya Gupta/Harsh Parikh (PENN) 6-3
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Sam Bossem/Loren Byers (PSU) def. Manfredi Graziani/Kian Vakili (PENN) 6-4
Order of finish: 3, 2
Singles Results
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#48 Edoardo Graziani (PENN) def. Loren Byers (PSU) 6-1, 6-4
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Kevin Zhu (PENN) def. Miko Eala (PSU) 7-5, 6-1
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Aditya Gupta (PENN) def. Charl Morgan (PSU) 6-1, 6-2
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Sam Bossem (PSU) def. #102 Harsh Parikh (PENN) 6-1, 6-2
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Malik Bhatnagar (PSU) vs. Manfredi Graziani (PENN) 4-6, 1-4, unfinished
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Baylor Sai (PENN) def. Pranav Nemani (PSU) 6-3, 6-0
Order of finish: 3, 4, 1, 2, 6
VILLANOVA
DOUBLES
Penn State clinched the doubles point on courts one and three.
Bhatnagar and Morgan earned their seventh doubles win of the season in a 6-1 contest over Josh Robinson and Noah Winton. Andrei Paduraru and Byers secured the point on No. 3 over Villanova's Trey Forticq and Justin Suarez, 6-1.
Eala and Simeunoiv went 3-2 unfinished on court two across from Tighe Brunetti and Cooper Gordon.
SINGLES
The Nittany Lions won five courts to earn a 6-1 dual victory over the Wildcats.
Simeunovic claimed Penn State's first singles point on court four with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Villanova's Ryan Nguyen. Byers defeated Robinson in straight sets at No. 1, 6-2, 6-1.
Eala secured the Penn State win by beating Gordon 6-1, 7-5 on court three. Nemani followed up with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Trey Forticq. Paduraru picked up the last point of the match in a 6-4, 6-2 contest over Lukas Choi.
RESULTS
Penn State 6, Villanova 1
Doubles Results
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Malik Bhatnagar/Charl Morgan (PSU) def. Josh Robinson/Noah Winton (VIL) 6-1
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Miko Eala/Stefan Simuenovic (PSU) vs. Tighe Brunetti/Cooper Gordon (VIL) 3-2, unfinished
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Andrei Paduraru/Loren Byers (PSU) def. Trey Forticq/Justin Suarez (VIL) 6-1
Order of finish: 1, 3
Singles Results
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Loren Byers (PSU) def. Josh Robinson (NOVA) 6-2, 6-1
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Tighe Brunetti (NOVA) def. Charl Morgan (PSU) 7-5, 7-6(5)
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Miko Eala (PSU) def. Cooper Gordon (NOVA) 6-1, 7-5
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Stefan Simeunovic (PSU) def. Ryan Nguyen (NOVA) 6-1, 6-2
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Pranav Nemani (PSU) def. Trey Forticq (NOVA) 6-2, 6-1
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Andrei Paduraru (PSU) def. Lukas Choi (NOVA) 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: 4, 1, 3, 2, 5, 6
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will be back at home on Friday, Feb. 10 at 4:00 p.m. to take on the Princeton Tigers.
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.