The No. 58 Penn State men's tennis team could have come within one game of pulling off a major upset against No. 33 Ohio State on Sunday.

The Nittany Lions (13-5, 2-4 Big Ten) showed a lot of toughness as they battled back from a 1-0 deficit after losing the doubles point to the Buckeyes (13-6, 5-1). Unfortunately for the Lions, arguably their best match of the season was a 4-3 loss.

"Our guys played a great match today, with great effort and great intensity," Penn State coach Jan Bortner said, praising the all-around effort given by his players.

As if the ability to win three singles matches against the Buckeyes was not enough, the Lions had a hole near the top of their lineup.

Penn State's No. 2 singles player, and a constant in doubles play, Malcolm Scatliffe sat out for the match with some nagging injuries.

"He's been pretty banged up, and still is not healthy," Bortner said. "I didn't feel he was ready, he's had one injury or another and it hasn't been getting better so I decided to sit him, to give him the rest."

Scatliffe's absence caused Penn State singles' players to shift up a spot, and the Lions inserted freshman Chris Sherman at No. 6, and unforeseeably, the deciding match of the day.

With the overall score at 3-2 in favor of the Buckeyes, and top singles player, No. 96 Mark Barry, leading No. 53 Joey Atas 4-1 in the third set, Sherman was serving for the win. At the time he was up 5-1 against Ohio State's Drew Eberly.

As Barry went on to win his match with Atas, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, Sherman's match could have put the Lions over the top, yet he eventually lost 3-6, 6-0, 7-5, to Eberly before Barry could finish.

"Sherman really stepped up for the team, and at that point all the pressure was on him," Bortner said. "He made some plays but it came down to him missing a few first serves -- but he went out and gave a great effort."

Also stepping up in singles were Bradley Hunter and Michael James, both playing up a spot at Nos. 3 and 4 singles, respectively. With the Lions trailing 2-0, James got Penn State on the board when he beat Scott Green, 6-3, 7-5.

Hunter helped keep the pressure on the Buckeyes, beating Chris Klingemann 7-5, 6-4, setting the match score 3-2 in favor of Ohio State. That put Barry and Sherman in position to pull off the upset.

With tough battles up and down the lineup in singles, the Lions could have really used the doubles point to take some pressure off, but it once again remained out of reach.

Changes in the doubles combinations, which had been in question last week, were a must with Scatliffe out. The usual No. 2 pairing of Hunter and Ryan Berger moved up to the No. 1 spot to take on the nation's No. 1 duo, Green and Ross Wilson. The Buckeyes won the match 8-4 and went on to sweep the doubles. Barry, who had been playing with either Scatliffe or Berger, paired with freshman James Dwyer, who does not normally compete at doubles. The duo had the Lions' best showing at the No. 2 spot, barely losing, 8-6, to Klingemann and No. 52 Devin Mullings.

Barry's ability to lead the young Lions in singles and doubles was evident as he knocked off Atas individually and was able to play a solid doubles match with a new partner.

"He showed a lot of toughness today, which is something he needs to do -- he played with some spunk," Bortner said.

Although the trip to Columbus resulted in a loss, the Lions can come away knowing that they not only can compete at singles with anyone in the conference, but also feel confident that they are peaking at the right time in the season.

"Even though we lost, that might just be the best match we played all year," Bortner said. "There were a lot of personal bests today as far as how the guys competed, especially on the road against a team like Ohio State."