The Orange and Blue suffered an overall 6-1 loss to Penn State, but Andrei Vitiuc ’19 continued his perfect 4-0 record with a sole win in No. 5 singles. The Bison traveled to University Park, Pa. to compete in a non-conference match against the nationally ranked Nittany Lions of Penn State on Feb. 13.

Beginning his singles match, Vitiuc fell the first set 6-3 but came back in true Bison fashion to win the next two, at 7-5 (7-6) and 10-3. Despite his competitor’s impressive 26-20 record in his freshman and sophomore years, Vitiuc was able to shut him down in an exciting match.

“Having the only win this weekend was a mixed feeling. On one hand I was happy for defeating a world-ranked player, but at the same time, being the only win of the match was unfortunate too,” Vitiuc said.

Other singles matches included performances from Nick Bybel ’16, Max Kane ’18, Dan Wright ’18, Bryan Adams ’17, and Timber Erskine ’18. In his second match of the season, Bybel put up a fight with his challenger but fell 7-5 and 6-3 in close sets.

On the doubles side, the duo of Bybel and Adams fell to Penn State 6-2, while duo Wright and Ben Gerber ’18 fell in No. 2 doubles 6-1. Vitiuc teamed up with Max Haase ’19 to come out victorious against the Lions in No. 3 doubles, winning 6-3. The Bison remain with an overall record of 3-2 this season.

“The team dynamic is great because every player is equally important as any other player on the team and I feel like this can be seen in all the aspects of the program, starting with Coach Schwartz, our strength coach, our trainer, and especially the upperclassmen on the team who made the transition for us, the freshmen, really smooth. That’s why, when it’s game time, whether it’s a senior or a freshman, we all go out there and compete for the team and as a team,” Vitiuc said.

The Orange and Blue are on the road for their next two matches in Loretto, Pa. and Youngstown, Ohio. They will take at Saint Francis and Youngstown State on Feb. 20 and Feb. 21, respectively.