UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Cleveland State men's tennis team returned to action Thursday evening, dropping a hard fought 4-3 match at Big Ten opponent Penn State.
PDF BOX SCORE | Penn State 4, Cleveland State 3
Quick Hits
• With the 7-6(5) tiebreak victory at No. 2 doubles, Matthew Terry and Kade Mindry remained undefeated in doubles play this spring.
• Nico Mostardi picked up his 78th career singles win on the night, and is now just two wins shy of becoming the seventh Viking all-time with 80 career victories.
• Raul Teichmann made his return to the lineup at Penn State, after sitting out the first two matches this spring due to injury.
• Penn State marked the second Power Five opponent out of Cleveland State's first three matches this spring.
The Match
For the second straight match the Vikings were able to pick up the early doubles point, earning wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots to gain a 1-0 advantage heading into singles play. Cleveland State's No. 3 team of Clark Bilinovich and Raul Teichmann posted a 6-3 win, while Matthew Terry and Kade Mindry clinched the doubles point with a 7-6(5) win at No. 2.
The Vikings were then able to gain a quick 2-0 advantage following a straight-set win from Nico Mostardi at the top of the lineup, as he posted a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Christian Lakoseljac. Mostardi, who still ranks 65th nationally, improved to 8-7 overall this year.
Cleveland State then extended its lead to 3-0 with a win from Bilinovich at No. 4 singles, as he posted a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Gabriel Nemeth to improve to 2-1 this spring.
Although the Vikings needed just one more win out of the four remaining singles matches, Penn State was able to rally back and pick up four straight points to earn the slight 4-3 match victory.
Up Next
Cleveland State will return home for two matches on Saturday, February 1, hosting Butler at 11:30 a.m. and St. Francis at 7:00 p.m.
The Results
Doubles (3, 1, 2)
1. #33 Antonopoulo/Lakoseljac (PSU) def. Mostardi/Phillips (CSU), 6-4
2. Terry/Mindry (CSU) def. Nemeth/Sentay (PSU), 7-6(5)
3. Bilinovich/Teichmann (CSU) def. Sato/Morgan (PSU), 6-3
Singles (1, 4, 3, 2, 5, 6)
1. #65 Nico Mostardi (CSU) def. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU), 6-2, 6-4
2. Charl Morgan (PSU) def. Matthew Terry (CSU), 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
3. Christos Antonopoulo (PSU) def. Luke Phillips (CSU), 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
4. Clark Bilinovich (CSU) def. Gabriel Nemeth (PSU), 7-5, 7-5
5. Chikaya Sato (PSU) def. Kade Mindry (CSU), 6-2, 6-2
6. Alp Sentay (PSU) def. Jack Santilli (CSU), 6-2, 6-2
