The Youngstown State men's tennis team used four singles victories to pick up a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over Valparaiso on Sunday morning at the Boardman Tennis Center. It was the Penguins' first regular-season Horizon League win since March 2005.
YSU dropped the doubles point, but rallied by winning four of the six singles contests. Picking up the deciding point was senior Rob Emig who battled back after dropping the first set to VU's Kyle Stump 6-1 and 6-4 in the final two frames.
First-year head coach Mark Klysner was impressed with the way his team earned the final three points of the dual.
"Again we came out extremely flat in our doubles matches today, but we are definitely more comfortable in singles matches which showed again today," Klysner said. "I am very proud of the guys and how they didn't give up today, even when we were down 3-1 in points. It was a huge win for us today and kept our hopes of qualifying for the conference tournament alive. We have a lot of work to do this week before next weekend."
Other winners for the Penguins in singles play were Tariq Ismail at No. 1 with a 6-4, 7-5 win over the Crusders' Jose Gaspar, freshman Max Schmerin at No. 3 over VU's Kevin DeHarrera 6-4, 6-2 and freshman Rodrigo Campos at No. 5 with a straight set 6-4, 6-3 win over Adam Whitmer.
Youngstown State improves to 5-10 and 1-3 while Valpo falls to 5-10 and 0-4.
The Penguins travel to face Butler and Wright State Saturday and Sunday.
