TAMPA, Fla. (March 16, 2007) ? After nearly four hours of play, the University of South Florida men's tennis team fell to the No. 36 Penn State Nittany Lions, 6-1 Friday afternoon at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts.

The Bulls (6-8) lone point of the match came in singles play as junior Mahmoud Hamed won his 10th match of the year, defeating PSU's Bradley Hunter 6-3, 6-2 on court four.  The win Hamed's seventh straight victory, and his first since returning from a one-match hiatus with a stiff neck.

The doubles point nearly went USF's way as well.  Hamed and partner Thomas Estrada combined to defeat Penn St.'s No. 1 pair of Ryan Berger and Michael James, 8-6.  Ales Svigelj and Marc Jaeger fell 8-4 to Hunter and James Dwyer at the third position, but Henning Hipp and Daniel Daudt held a 6-4 lead over Adam Slagter and Ryan Gormley in the second spot.  The Nittany Lions then rallied to win the next four points and take the overall first point of the match.

In singles play, PSU (11-2) closed out the win, but not after exhausting matches in flights two, five and six. 

Diego Toledo made his return to the lineup after a four-match absence, but was retired by Dwyer on court six for his third loss of the year.

The Bulls next face No. 48 Denver on Thur., Mar. 22 at home, as they continue a four-match stretch of ranked opponents.  Match time is set for 2 p.m.  Admission is free.

No. 36 PSU 6, USF 1

Doubles
1) Hamed/Estrada (USF) def. Berger/James (PSU) 8-6
2) Slagter/Gormley (PSU) def. Hipp/Daudt (USF) 9-7
3) Hunter/Dwyer (PSU) def. Svigelj/Jaeger (USF) 8-4

Singles
1) Michael James (PSU) def. Ales Svigelj (USF) 6-2, 6-0
2) Ryan Berger (PSU) def. Marc Jaeger (USF) 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-2
3) Adam Slagter (PSU) def. Henning Hipp (USF) 6-1, 6-2
4) Mahmoud Hamed (USF) def. Bradley Hunter (PSU) 6-3, 6-2
5) Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. Thomas Estrada (USF) 6-4, 7-6(2)
6) James Dwyer (PSU) def. Diego Toledo (USF) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3