For the first time in program history, the Youngstown State men's tennis team has captured the North Division title and awaits its semifinal opponent in the Horizon League championships. The Penguins will face the winner of Friday's quarterfinal matchup between the South Division No. 2 seed Tennessee State and North Division No. 3 seed IU Indy.
YSU will play its semifinal match Saturday, with first serve scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Cincinnati.
Regular Season Recap
The Penguins posted their best Horizon League record since the 2021-22 season, going 5-1 in league play and 15-5 overall. This marks the third time in program history the team has reached 15 victories. YSU opened with a 4-3 win over UIC, then dropped its next contest before going on an eight match-winning streak throughout February.
YSU began conference play with a three-match road stretch, but returned home 3-0, including a win over the Vikings in Cleveland for the first time since 2022. The regular season concluded with a three-match home slate, where the Penguins went 2-1. Their lone conference loss came in a 5-2 defeat to Cleveland State.
Horizon League Numbers
In the six Horizon League matches this spring, YSU went 28-8 in singles and 8-8 in doubles. Malo Vernejoul posted a perfect 6-0 singles record, while Rafael Le Fur and Oscar Gippet each went 5-1 in league play. Mihai Haita and Domink Vonbank both recorded four singles wins. In doubles, the duo of Gippet and Haita went 2-0 in conference play.
Overall Numbers
Gippet leads the team with 24 overall singles wins and ranks third all–time in single-season wins in program history. The Penguins finished above .500 in the No. 2 through No. 6 singles positions, with their strongest performance coming at No. 4, where they posted a 14-3 overall record. Matteo Ceradelli and Vonbank led the team with 14 doubles victories, and six Penguins recorded double-digit singles victories.
Horizon League Tournament History
This marks the first time since 2022 that the Penguins enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed. YSU holds a 1-8 record in semifinal matches, with its lone win coming in 2022, when the team went on to capture the program's first championship. Overall, the Penguins are 9-28 in Horizon League postseason play, with their most recent win coming against Southern Indiana in last year's quarterfinals. This year also marks the first time Ohio has been selected as the host site.
