COLUMBUS, Ohio — No. 69 Northwestern suffered a close 4-3 defeat to Penn State on Friday night before falling to No. 2 Ohio State 5-0 on Sunday afternoon.
The Wildcats (13-10, 1-7 Big Ten) took an early lead on the Nittany Lions (14-8, 2-5 Big Ten), but were unable to clinch the match.
Northwestern pulled out a disputed doubles point to take a 1-0 lead. At the No. 3 slot, junior Owen Megargee and first-year Cooper Han won five of the last six games in their 6-3 victory, which was followed by junior Ethan Schiffman and junior Cyrus Mahjoob prevailing 6-4 at the No. 2 position.
Sophomore Carter Pate recorded his team-best 13th singles victory of the season with a 6-3, 6-4 result at No. 1 singles to put the Wildcats up 2-0. Penn State responded by claiming the No. 4 singles match, but junior Greyson Casey put Northwestern just one point away from victory by winning 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 3 spot. It marked his first singles win in Big Ten play this dual season.
Penn State won each of the three remaining singles matches to come out with a win.
In Sunday's tilt against the Buckeyes (19-3, 6-1 Big Ten), the Wildcats lost the doubles point, No. 4 and No. 5 singles, then the No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches, which concluded simultaneously.
At No. 1 doubles, Casey and Pate, the No. 25 doubles team nationally, led the No. 1-ranked doubles team in the country, Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin, 5-4 when doubles play concluded.
Northwestern now returns home for Senior Weekend, where it will take on Purdue on April 3, at 6 p.m. CT, and No. 60 Indiana on Sunday, April 5, at 10 a.m. CT.
