The Penn State men's tennis team was using this past weekend's Big Ten Singles Championships at the University of Michigan to see just how far the team had come since the beginning of the semester.
The Nittany Lions went up against the Big Ten's finest and experienced some success, but still have a way to go before the spring season begins.
"Overall, it was a perfect way to end the fall season," first-year Penn State head coach Todd Doebler said. "We got to see the level of the Big Ten and how we stack up to them."
Michael James, Adam Slagter and Brendan Lynch all earned spots in the round of 16. However, none of the players were able to advance any further, as they fell to Michigan players.
James, the No. 15 seed, drew Michigan's Matko Maravic, the No. 2 seed in the tournament. Maravic was too much for James, as he took the match in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Slagter took an early one-set advantage against Michigan's Peter Aarts. Aarts eventually came back to take a second-set tiebreak, and broke Slagter's serve to win the decisive third set, 6-4.
"A lot of guys had opportunities in matches, but we were not able to capitalize on them," Doebler said. "We were up service breaks, up sets, had chances to convert when they were up in games. We just couldn't close out matches."
Lynch was defeated by Michigan's Andrew Mazlin, 6-3, 7-6 (3), in the round of 16. Lynch wrapped up fall action that also saw him finish as a semifinalist in the ITA Regional Championships.
"[The Big Ten Singles Championships] showed we have a ways to go to be in the upper level of Big Ten, but we know we can get there," Lynch said. "The guys that lost had close matches, and if we make a few adjustments we could win. There isn't much separation."
The Lions sent eight players to the 64-player main draw. Ryan Gormley, James Dwyer and Guillaume St-Maurice all won matches in the qualifying bracket to advance to the main draw. Bradley Hunter and Ryan Berger joined James, Lynch and Slagter in the round of 32 before being knocked out.
The Big Ten Singles Championships concluded the Lions' fall season. The team will continue to practice for the rest of semester in preparation for dual meets in the spring.
Doebler has seen improvement from his team since the beginning of fall practice, which was evident in the team's success at the Big Ten Championships. But, the team still has to make improvements before competing with the class of the Big Ten.
"I saw that a lot of our guys can compete with a lot of the guys at the tournament," Doebler said. "It will be our job to improve to meet that level in the spring."
