April 16, 2005
University Park, PA – The Iowa men’s tennis team was unable to snap their five-match conference losing streak, falling to 62nd-ranked Penn State on Friday, 7-0. Penn State improved their home record to 8-1 with their victory.
Iowa fell behind early after losing all three doubles matches. The new doubles line-up that paid dividends for the Hawkeyes last weekend against Northwestern almost paid off again as Iowa was competitive in all doubles matches. Iowa closest match of the day came at No. 2 doubles where Chaitu Malempati and Aaron Schaechterle lost a hard-fought 9-8 decision. The No. 1 doubles match was also highly-contested, but juniors Kyle Markham and Brett Taylor fell 8-6. The freshmen duo of J.P. Ritchie and Bart van Monsjou were defeated 8-5 at the No. 3 position.
Iowa was not as competitive in singles matches, losing all six matches in straight sets. Iowa closest matched occurred at No.2 singles, where Markham fell to Malcolm Scatliffe, 7-5, 6-2. Junior Chaitu Malempati faced another ranked opponent at the No. 1 position, losing his match 6-3, 6-4 to 96th-ranked Mark Berry. Brett Taylor’s three-match winning streak came to an end with his 6-1, 6-3 defeat at No. 5 singles. Sophomore Jonny Hoak returned to the Hawkeyes’ singles line-up, but was unable to help the Hawkeyes avoid the sweep.
Iowa (9-9, 1-6) travels to Indiana on Sunday for a 1:30 battle with the Hoosiers. The Hawkeyes will return home next weekend to face Purdue on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. and 4th-ranked Illinois on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. Both contests will be held at City Park Courts.
RESULTS
IOWA 0
#62 Penn State 7
Doubles
No.1 Scatliffe/Barry (PSU) def. Markham/Taylor (IOWA) 8-6
No. 2 Hunter/Berger (PSU) def. Malempati/ Schaechterle (IOWA) 9-8
No. 3 Sherman/James (PSU) def. Ritchie/ van Monsjou (IOWA) 8-5
Singles
No. 1 #96 Mark Barry (PSU) def. Chaitu Malempati (IOWA) 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 Malcolm Scatliffe (PSU) def. Kyle Markham (IOWA) 7-5, 6-2
No. 3 Ryan Berger (PSU) def. J.P. Ritchie (IOWA) 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 Brad Hunter (PSU) def. Bart van Monsjou (IOWA) 6-1, 6-3
No. 5 Michael James (PSU) def. Brett Taylor (IOWA) 6-1, 6-3
No. 6 James Dwyer (PSU) def. Jonny Hoak (IOWA) 6-1, 6-4