Men's Tennis 5/6/2025 12:00:00 AM

Gurram Named United East Rookie of the Year; Gu and Mangifesta Earn All-United East Honors

Latham, N.Y. – Penn State Abington freshman Krishna Gurram was named the United East Conference (UEC) Men's Tennis Rookie of the Year as announced by the conference office on Tuesday with the release of the major awards and all-conference teams. Gurram was also named to the All-United East second team for singles. Furthermore, sophomores Wenxu Gu and Tripp Mangifesta were named All-United East for doubles with first team recognition. Gu was also selected as a first team selection in singles.

Gurram is the fifth player in program history to earn Rookie of the Year accolades and the first since former standout Mike Litz donned the honors back in 2016-17. Gurram, in his first year of collegiate action, made an immediate impact on the Nittany Lions and was one of the many key components to the team's success this season.

Competing mostly at second singles, Gurram finished 7-3 in that slot and 8-4 overall in singles action. He started his season winning his first six singles matches. In doubles play, Gurram competed at first and second doubles and posted an 8-5 record overall. Down the stretch, Gurram won six of his final eight doubles matches, including a 4-1 mark with doubles partner Anton Labas at second doubles.

Gu is earning All-United East first team honors in both singles and doubles for the second straight season. It was a career year for the two-time All-United East selection as he finished an impressive 10-1 in the top spot for the Nittany Lions. Gu won his first nine matches before his only blemish on the year. Gu battled Penn State Harrisburg's Peng Hou to a three-set match in the regular season finale.

In doubles play, Gu teamed up with Mangifesta during the spring portion of the team's schedule and went 7-1 as partners at first doubles. The Abington duo also went 4-1 in conference play and won six of their final seven matches, including in the postseason.

Mangifesta is earning All-United East honors for the second time in his short career. The sophomore from Upper Dublin was named All-United East second team for singles his rookie season. Overall in doubles play, Mangifesta was 10-4 and 5-1 in conference play.

Abington (12-3, 5-2 UEC) started the season with an 8-0 record tying the program's longest winning streak in the team's Division III era. The Nittany Lions went on to finish the year with 12 wins and advance to the United East semifinals. The 12 victories marked the second most since joining D-III. The team's three losses this year are the fewest by the team since 2014-15 when the team finished 11-4.

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Players Mentioned

Wenxu Gu: 5' 10"; Sophomore

Tripp Mangifesta: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Krishna Gurram: 5' 7"; Freshman

Anton Labas: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Wenxu Gu
: 5' 10"; Sophomore

Tripp Mangifesta
: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Krishna Gurram
: 5' 7"; Freshman

Anton Labas
: 6' 0"; Sophomore