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Nittany Lions Shutout, 7-0, by #29 Illinois
URBANA,
Ill. – The Penn State men’s tennis team were shutout 7-0 against #29
Illinois on Sunday in Urbana at the Atkins Tennis Center.
Illinois swept the doubles portion to earn the first point and then won
all six singles matches. Penn State fell to 8-14 this spring and
2-6 in the Big Ten. Illinois improved to 13-9 overall and 6-3 in
conference play.
Coming off a tough 4-3 loss to #5 Ohio State on Friday, Illinois jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a sweep in doubles action.
In
the number one doubles matchup, Jared Hiltzik and Alex Jesse earned an
8-4 victory over Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) and Guanhua Chen
(DaLian, China).
In the second matchup, Ross Guignon and Brian
Page paired up for an 8-1 triumph over Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.)
and C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich.), who paired up for the first time
since January 20th against Cornell.
Roman Trkulja (Toronto,
Canada) and Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) combined for Penn State
in the third matchup. They took on Tim Kopinski and Stephen Hoh,
but fell 8-3.
Russell Bader competed in the number one singles
spot against Jared Hiltzik, ranked 36th in the nation. Hiltzik
backed up his ranking with a 6-4, 7-5 straight set win. Bader is
now 15-7 this spring and 6-3 in the Big Ten.
Tomas Hanzlik
(Prague, Czech Republic) took on Tim Kopinski in the number two
matchup. Kopinski took control in the first set with a 6-2 win
and overcame a 4-1 deficit to win the second set 6-4.
Illinois’
Ross Guignon came out on top in a tough 7-6 first set against Matt
Barry. Guignon then followed that up with a 6-4 win in the second
set. Barry is now 11-7 this spring and 3-5 in conference play.
Roman
Trkulja battled in a back-and-forth first set against Stephen Hoh, but
Hoh claimed the set 7-6(7-0). Hoh then continued his momentum for
a 6-0 win in the second set.
Sophomore Ramy Labna (Doha, Qatar)
competed in the fifth spot for the Nittany Lions. He faced Alex
Jesse but fell in straight sets 6-1, 6-2.
Chris Young started
in the sixth spot against Brian Page. Young dropped the first set
6-1, but then battled in the second set before coming up short, 7-5.
It
was the third time this season that Penn State was shutout in a
match. The Nittany Lions were also shutout against #65 Wake
Forest and #7 Ohio State.
Penn State finishes up the regular
season next weekend with tw0 matches. They host #24 Michigan at 3:00
p.m. ET on Friday. The Nittany Lions then travel to #48 Michigan
State for a Noon ET match on Sunday in the regular season finale.
Doubles:
1. Hiltzik/Jesse(Ill) def. Bader/Chen(PSU), 8-4
2. Guignon/Page(Ill) def. Barry/Griffin(PSU), 8-1
3. Kopinski/Hoh(Ill) def. Trkulja/Young(PSU), 8-3
Order of Finish: 2,1,3
Singles:
1. #36 Jared Hiltzik(Ill) def. Russell Bader(PSU), 6-4, 7-5
2. Tim Kopinski(Ill) def. Tomas Hanzlik(PSU), 6-2, 6-4
3. Ross Guignon(Ill) def. Matt Barry(PSU), 7-6, 6-4
4. Stephen Hoh(Ill) def. Roman Trkulja(PSU), 7-6(7-0), 6-0
5. Alex Jesse(Ill) def. Ramy Labna(PSU), 6-1, 6-2
6. Brian Page(Ill) def. Chris Young(PSU), 6-1, 7-5
Order of Finish: 5,2,1,6,4,3
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