Dukes End Weekend with 4-1 Defeat to No. 47 Penn State

Sunday, March 24

University Park, Pa.

5 p.m.

James Madison University

#47 Penn State

3/24/2019 10:13:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa – James Madison men's tennis fell to No. 47 Penn State (11-5) at the Sarni Tennis Center on Sunday night despite strong play down the stretch.

Freshman William Karpinski and sophomore Gonzalo Adis lost at No. 2 doubles 6-1 to start the night, but juniors Josh Raymundo and Tate Steinour's 6-4 win at No. 3 quickly evened the match and turned all heads to Court 1. However, senior Pierre Kohler and sophomore Alvaro Arce dropped a tight, 7-5, match to give the doubles point to the Nittany Lions.

In singles, Penn State earned straight-set wins on Court 4 and 1 to expand its lead to 3-0. But the Dukes (12-6) didn't give in, as junior Paul Mendoza and Arce both pushed their opponents to third sets.

Mendoza finished his three-setter with 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 win, giving JMU life. As he finished, Arce was leading 6-5 in the third, just a couple points away from bringing the Dukes' deficit to one. The sophomore eventually came up short in the third-set tiebreaker, falling 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4), and giving the Nittany Lions a 4-1 win.

"I was proud of the fight in these guys," coach Steve Secord said. "Penn State is tough and we were close in the doubles point and then pushed them hard in singles."

Penn State would clinch at 4-1, leaving Karpinski and Steinour both on serve in their first sets, at 3-4 and 4-5, respectively.

RESULTS
Singles
1. No. 44 Constant De La Basse def. Pierre Kohler 6-4, 6-2
2. Christos Antonopoulo def. Alvaro Arce 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)
3. Paul Mendoza def. Gabriel Nemeth 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
4. Ben Lieb def. Gonzalo Adis 6-3, 6-1
5. Jordan Nickerson vs. Tate Steinour 5-4, unfinished
6. Alp Sentay vs. William Karpinski 4-3, unfinished

Order of finish: 4, 1, 3, 2

Doubles
1. De La Basse/Galush def. Kohler/Arce 7-5
2. Nemeth/Alp Sentay def. Adis/Karpinski 6-1
3. Raymundo/Steinour def. Sutter/Lieb 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1

QUOTING ASSISTANT COACH JASON SINKOFF
We have talked a lot about getting off to a quick start and maintaining a high level throughout the entire singles match. This weekend we did our best job of the year at that. Doubles was strong in both matches this weekend, and guys played with energy. We owned the net on serve and return games. In singles, we did a much better job at handling pressure situations and playing the big points as well as we play every point.

UP NEXT
JMU travels to Norfolk, Va to take Norfolk State on Friday, March 29, at 2 p.m.