Iowa City, Iowa — The 48th-ranked University of Iowa men’s tennis team were edged by Michigan State, 4-3, on Sunday at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex.
Iowa (4-7, 4-5) lost the doubles point in a nail bitter. Peter Alam/Joe Tyler started things out with their fourth straight victory on court three, 6-3. The 17th-ranked duo of Will Davies/Oliver Okonkwo dropped a close one at on court one, 6-4, only their second setback of the season. The No. 2 team of Kareem Allaf/Nikita Snezhko had a back-and-forth match that ended with a 7-5 win for the Spartans.
Michigan State (4-6, 4-4) won the first singles matches in straight sets at No. 5, but the Hawkeyes fought back with a pair of wins at No. 1 and No. 4. Allaf, ranked 39th nationally, won in straight sets (7-5, 6-1) at No. 1, followed quickly thereafter by Tyler on court four (7-5, 6-0).
With the team score even at 2-2, Okonkwo and Davies lost close matches in three sets, Okonkwo at No. 2 (3-6, 6-3, 6-4) and Davies on court three (6-2, 1-6, 6-4). After Michigan State clinched the match, Jason Kerst won on court six (6-3, 4-6, 6-4).
Allaf’s singles win increased his combined singles and doubles win total to 159, he is now one shy of Tyler Cleveland’s school record of 160.
Iowa returns to action on Friday against Penn State at 3 p.m. (CT) at University Park, Pennsylvania.