April 14, 2013
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(8-6) 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(8-6), 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