MADISON, Wis. – The Penn State men’s tennis team (14-13, 3-7 B1G) fell to the Indiana Hoosiers (6-17, 1-9 B1G) with a final score of 4-3 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday evening.
“First and foremost, I want to congratulate Indiana for fighting to the very end and that is a direct relation to their coaching staff,” said head coach Jeff Zinn. “Unfortunately, for us, it was too common a theme this year. We would get close, but we couldn’t finish the match. We also had some bad luck with Charl Morgan not being able to play in this year’s tournament because of illness. He is very valuable in doubles and has clinched quite a few matches for us this year in singles. We had players step up today and I want to congratulate Miko Eala, Sam Bossem, and Loren Byers for playing some terrific singles today and representing Penn State in a great manner. We need to reflect on this season and correct some of the nagging issues that plagued us all year in so many close matches.
DOUBLES
Indiana secured the doubles point with wins on courts two and three.
Finishing first, Malik Bhatnagar and Sam Bossem cruised past partners Patrick Fletchall and Ilya Tiraspolsky to a 6-0 result at No. 1.
Miko Eala and Bora Sengul fell to Patrick Fletchall and Ilya Tiraspolsky 6-4, before Indiana’s Michael Andre and Luca Vukovic clinched the doubles point over Loren Byers and Chikaya Sato, 6-3.
SINGLES
Despite collecting three singles wins, the Nittany Lions were unable to complete the comeback. The Hoosiers earned victories on courts two, five, and six to advance to the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Winning on court four, Byers defeated Singh 6-1, 6-1 to grab Penn State’s first singles point. Eala followed up with a 6-3, 6-0 decision over Haskins. Eaning a win on court three, Bossem took the 3-2 lead for the Nittany Lions in straight sets 7-6, 6-2 opposite Vukovic.
The Hoosiers claimed wins on courts two and five to secure their victory and advance to round two of the Big Ten Tournament.
RESULTS
Indiana 4, Penn State 3
Doubles Results
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Patrick Fletchall/Ilya Tiraspolsky (IND) def. Miko Eala/Bora Sengul (PSU) 6-4
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Malik Bhatnagar/Sam Bossem (PSU) def. Carson Haskins/Vikash Singh (IND) 6-0
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Michael Andre/Luca Vukovic (IND) def. Loren…
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