UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The 38th- ranked Penn State men's tennis team earned its first victories of the 2009 season, defeating St. Bonaventure and Saint Joseph's both by a score of 7-0 on Saturday at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center. Penn State improves to 2-1 on the season.
"It was good to get on track this weekend after a tough loss to N.C. State," said head coach Todd Doebler. "It was important to get the guys' confidence back. These two matches helped a little, but we need to have a good week of practice to get ready for ITA Kickoff Weekend."
Penn State took an early advantage in both matches taking the doubles point. From there, the Nittany Lions never looked back earning straight set victories in all the singles matches.
Match One vs. St. Bonaventure
In doubles action, the No.1 pairing of senior Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) and freshman Jason Lee (Sydney, Australia) came out and held a 6-1 lead at one point in their matchup with St. Bonaventure's Chris Post and Leo Mochizuki. The Nittany Lion tandem held their lead and never looked back as they beat the Bonnies' pairing, 8-2.
In the No. 3 bout, junior Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) and sophomore Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) knocked off St. Bonaventure's Mikhail Sudakov and Enric Larregola, 8-3, to clinch the doubles point for the Lions. The Nittany Lion pairing held a 4-3 lead through the first seven games, but then won the final four games to earn the victory.
With the doubles point already determined, senior Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.) and junior Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) downed St. Bonaventure's Jonathan Luce and Diego Valdenegro (SBU), 9-8 (6). With the points being alternated throughout the match, Lynch and St-Maurice pulled away in the tiebreaker, 8-6, to earn the victory.
With Penn State leading 1-0, the match turned to singles competition. Penn State gained more momentum when Slagter downed the Bonnies' Post in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. In the first set, Slagter was dominant as he led early, 4-1. In the second set, Post made things interesting as he trailed 4-3 seven games into the set. However, Slagter pulled away and won the final two sets. Penn State had an early 2-0 advantage.
Lee earned his first career singles victory, as he downed Luce in the No. 4 bout. The freshman led early 2-1 in the first set. From there, Lee did not look back as he won the final four games to win the first set. In the second set, Lee led 5-2 seven games in, and won the set, 6-3, to earn a point for the Lions.
In the No. 3 bout, Lynch earned the match point for the Nittany Lions as he downed Valdenegro in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1. After breezing through the first set, the senior started the second set leading 5-0 and held on for the 6-1 victory. The victory was Lynch's first this season.
With the match determined already, Boruchier made his return to the singles lineup. In the No. 2 bout, he beat the Bonnies' Mochizuki, 6-2, 6-4. In other singles action, Gormley knocked off Sudakov, 6-1, 6-3 while St-Maurice beat Larregola, 6-1, 6-1.
Final Score: #38 Penn State 7 def. St. Bonaventure 0
Doubles
1. Jason Lee/Adam Slagter (PSU) def. Chris Post/Leo Mochizuki (SBU), 8-2
2. Brendan Lynch/Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) def. Jonathan Luce/Diego Valdenegro (SBU), 9-8 (6)
3. Eddie Bourchier/Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. Mikhail Sudakov/Enric Larregola (SBU), 8-3
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1. Adam Slagter (PSU) def. Chris Post (SBU), 6-2, 6-3
2. Eddie Bourchier (PSU) def. Leo Mochizuki (SBU), 6-2, 6-4
3. Brendan Lynch (PSU) def. Diego Valdenegro (SBU), 6-0, 6-1
4. Jason Lee (PSU) def. Jonathan Luce (SBU), 6-1, 6-2
5. Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. Mikhai Sudakov, 6-1, 6-3
6. Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) def. Enric Larregola, 6-1, 6-1
Order of finish: 1, 4, 3, 2, 5, 6
Match Two vs. Saint Joseph's
In doubles action, Lynch and St-Maurice improved to 3-0 on the season as a doubles pair as they swept Saint Joseph's Pat Adams and Matt Prusack, 8-0. The Nittany Lion pairing came out strong and showed no signs of letting up.
That led to the No. 3 bout matchup of Bourchier and Gormley and the Hawks' Jeff Kessler and Patrick Cognetti. The Lions beat the Hawks in that matchup, 8-4. Bourchier and Gormley lead by 6-3 through nine games and pulled out the victory and earned the doubles point for the Lions.
With the doubles point already decided, Slagter and Lee pulled out an 8-6 victory over Phil Bayliss and Michael Stauble, to give the Nittany Lion tandem their second victory for the day.
Penn State led 1-0 heading into singles action. The first singles point for Penn State was earned in the No. 3 bout where Lee earned his second victory of the day over Stauble, 6-0, 6-2. Lee continued his hot stretch from the previous match and swept Stauble in the first set. In the second set, Stauble took the early lead, but Lee came back from the 1-0 deficit and took the set and earned a point for the Lions.
In the No. 2 matchup featuring Bourchier and Bayliss, the pair was tied through the first two games of the first set. From there, Bourchier came back and took the first set, 6-2. In the second set, Bourchier led 4-1 and never looked back, earning the third point for Penn State.
In the No. 1 matchup, Lynch beat Adams to earn the match point for the Lions, 6-1, 6-1. Lynch took an early lead in the first set, 3-0. From there, Lynch finished Adams off and won the first set. In the second set, the senior again took the early 3-0 lead, to win the set and match.
With the match already decided, Gormley earned his second victory of the day over Kessler, 6-3, 6-3, while Jamie Cox earned his first victory of the season over Prusack, 6-1, 6-2. Freshman Chris Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.) earned his first career victory, downing Cognetti 6-3, 6-1.
Penn State will host ITA Kickoff Weekend next weekend. The Nittany Lions will take on No. 22 Oklahoma State on Saturday at 2 p.m. and will face either Duke or Florida State on Sunday 2 p.m.
Final Score: #38 Penn State 7 def. Saint Joseph's 0
Doubles
1. Jason Lee/Adam Slagter (PSU) def. Phil Bayliss/Michael Stauble (SJU), 8-6
2. Brendan Lynch/Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) def. Pat Adams/Matt Prusack (SJU), 8-0
3. Eddie Bourchier/Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. Jeff Kessler/Patrick Cognetti (SJU), 8-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1. Brendan Lynch (PSU) def. Pat Adams (SJU), 6-1, 6-1
2. Eddie Bourchier (PSU) def. Phil Bayliss (SJU), 6-2, 6-2
3. Jason Lee (PSU) def. Michael Stauble (SJU), 6-0, 6-2
4. Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. Jeff Kessler (SJU), 6-3, 6-3
5. Jamie Cox (PSU) def. Matt Prusack (SJU), 6-1, 6-2
6. Chris Hasyn (PSU) def. Patrick Cognetti(SJU), 6-3, 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1, 4, 5, 6