It was a rousing debut for Filipino tennis upstart Miko Eala.
Eala won his first-ever NCAA game for Penn State in three sets in the school’s season opener against the Illinois Fighting Illini, Saturday morning (Philippine time) at the Atkins Tennis Center, Urbana, Illinois.
The 18-year-old freshman needed a grind out to eventually take down Kweisi Kenyatte, 6-4, 5-7, 11-9, for his first-ever win in his collegiate stint and take a win for the Nittany Lions.
However, it was the Fighting Illini who came out on top after taking both the finished doubles matches and the three singles matches for a 5-2 win over Penn State.
Christian Lakoseljac registered the other win for the Nittany Lions, ending the match against Alex Brown, 7-6(12), 6-3.
Eala and the rest of the Penn State squad hope to bounce back on Sunday morning when they continue their road trip in Illinois when they face Northwestern University.
