The Penn State men's tennis team came off a hard road loss to No. 23 Indiana (11-4, 3-1 Big Ten), which snapped its eight-match win streak with the hopes of capturing a victory this weekend.

The Nittany Lions went 0-2 this weekend, falling to 13-6 overall and 2-4 in the Big Ten. Penn State lost 4-3 to Purdue on Saturday and 7-0 to No. 1 Illinois yesterday.

Penn State fell just one point short of defeating Purdue (9-5, 3-1).

Nate Emge's and Mark Barry's win at No. 3 doubles was not enough to claim the doubles point because Purdue defeated Penn State in the No. 1 and No. 2 slots.

"There were a lot opportunities that we missed in doubles play," Roddy Cantey said.

After a slow start in the doubles matches, the team fought hard in the singles action, winning three of the five matches.

Emge defeated Scott Mayer at No. 1 to put the first point on the board for the Lions.

"We were a little streaky at times," Emge said. "Other than that, I think we performed well in singles play."

Todd Stecko defeated Kevin Foster at No. 5 and Clint Keithley defeated Seth McKinley at No. 6, earning the Lions two more points, but it was not enough to defeat the Boilermakers.

"We did not play as good as we wanted," Cantey said. "We expected to play a lot better."

After falling to Purdue on Saturday, the Lions were looking to upset Illinois (16-0, 4-0) yesterday. Penn State knew competition would be tough, considering the Fighting Illini came to Happy Valley undefeated and have four nationally ranked payers.

Penn State was again unable to capture the doubles point, losing all three of its matches.

"Illinois plays big time doubles with a lot of intensity," Penn State men's tennis coach Jan Bortner said in a press release. "Today they showed why they are the No. 1 team in the country."

At No. 1 singles, Emge fought hard but fell to Brian Wilson, losing 6-3, 6-2.

Also, Barry at No. 2 battled to the end, but lost 7-5, 6-1 to Phil Stolt. Stecko at No. 6 also played an intense game, but lost to Pramod Dabir, 6-4, 6-3.

"Everyone gave it their all and fought hard," Cantey said.

Bortner said he was pleased with the play of Stecko, who lost consecutive sets, but played hard the entire match.

"Todd was the bright spot for our team today," Bortner said. "He had some solid chances to swing the match and gain some points with aggressive net play and fundamental tennis."

Penn State will travel to Northwestern and Wisconsin next weekend with the hopes of snapping its three-match losing streak.

"We'll work hard and stay on top," Cantey said of the upcoming week. "It should be a good weekend."