Feb. 8, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After a tough loss on Saturday to No. 32 Virginia Tech on Saturday, the Penn State men's tennis team returned to action on Sunday with a 10 a.m. match against the Cornell and a 3 p.m. match with Lehigh. The Lions defeated the Big Red, 4-3 and blanked Lehigh 7-0.
Match One vs. Cornell
The Lions took advantage early, winning two of the three doubles matches to capture the doubles point. Following doubles action, Penn State won three of the six singles matches, to win the match 4-3.
In doubles action, the No. 2 pairing of junior Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) and sophomore Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) matched-up evenly with Cornell's Jeremy Feldman and Andy Gauthier, with the match tied at five through the first ten sets. However, the Nittany Lion tandem won the final three games to clinch the match, 8-5.
In the No. 3 bout, senior Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.) and junior Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) knocked off Cornell's Marc Asch and Mirza Klis, 8-6, to clinch the doubles point for the Lions. The Nittany Lion pairing held a 6-2 lead through the first eight games and held on to earn the victory.
With the doubles point already determined, senior Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) and Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) took on Cornell's Josh Goldstein and Kyle Doppelt. Goldstein held a 5-2 lead through the first seven games of the match. Grom there, the Big Read duo held on to clinch the lone doubles victory for Cornell, 8-5.
With Penn State leading 1-0, the match turned to singles competition. Cornell did not lose any of the momentum, when Jonathan Fife knocked off Gormley in the No. 3 singles bout, 6-0, 6-3. After sweeping Gormley in the first set, Fife led, 4-3, seven games into the second set. From there, Fife won the final two games to clinch singles the match. Cornell tied the score back up at one.
The No. 4 bout featured Lee and Feldman. In the first set, Lee and Feldman continued to exchange game points. With Lee leading 4-3, he won the final two games to secure the first set, 6-3. In the second set, Lee led 3-2, and won the final three games to clinch the set, 6-3. With the match victory by Lee, Penn State led, 2-1.
Lynch made his return to the No. 1 spot in the singles lineup, as he faced off with Goldstein. Lynch had no issues with Goldstein, winning the match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. Penn State led 3-1.
In the No. 2 bout, Slagter faced Jaklitsch in a three-set battle. In the first set, Slagter was dominant with a 6-1 victory. However, Jaklitsch battled back and took the second set, 6-4. That led to the crucial third set. Jacklitsch got off to a fast start in the third frame, leading 5-2, and taking the set, 6-3, to earn a match point for the Big Red. Penn State now had a 3-2 lead.
On the No. 6 court, sophomore Jamie Cox (Acworth, Ga.) took on Gauthier. In the first set, Gauthier jumped out to an early 4-1 lead. The Cornell sophomore was able to hold on, 6-3, to take the first set. In the second set, Gauthier did not lose any ground, winning 6-2 and capturing that critical third point to tie the match.
The match point came down to St-Maurice and Doppelt in the No. 5 bout. With the first set tied at four, St-Maurice won the final two games to capture the frame. In the second set, the Nittany Lion junior jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and never looked back, winning the set 6-1, and clinching the match for Penn State.
Final Score: #44 Penn State 4 def. Cornell 3
Doubles
1. Josh Goldstein/Kyle Doppelt (Cornell) def. Jason Lee/Adam Slagter (PSU), 8-5
2. Eddie Bourchier/Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. Jeremy Feldman/Andy Gauthier (Cornell), 8-5
3. Brendan Lynch/Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) def. Marc Asch/Mirza Klis (Cornell), 8-6
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1. Brendan Lynch (PSU) def. Josh Goldstein (Cornell), 6-2, 6-2
2. Jonathan Jaklitsch (Cornell) def. Adam Slagter (PSU), 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
3. Jonathan Fife (Cornell) def. Ryan Gormley (PSU), 6-0, 6-3
4. Jason Lee (PSU) def. Jeremy Feldman (Cornell), 6-3, 6-2
5. Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) def. Kyle Doppelt (Cornell), 6-4, 6-1
6. Andy Gauthier (Cornell) def. Jamie Cox (Penn State), 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 4, 1, 2, 5, 6
Match Two vs. Lehigh
In doubles, freshman Chris Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.) and sophomore Benji Kendall (Villanova, Pa.) saw their first doubles action of the season, as they teamed up together against Lehigh's Ryan Krueger and Chris Collins. Hasyn and Kendall nearly swept the match, winning 8-1.
In the No. 2 bout, Lynch and St-Maurice defeated Cameron Silbert and Arnaldo Pacheco, 8-2 to clinch the doubles point for the Nittany Lions. On the No. 1 court, Bourchier and Gormley took down Troy List and Collin Laffey, 8-3. Penn State led 1-0.
In singles action, Slagter came back after a tough loss earlier in the day and knocked-off Laffey in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1. Additionally, Bourchier earned a victory over Leland Richardson, 6-1, 6-2. With the two Lions victories, Penn State led the match 3-0.
The match clinching victory came on the No. 4 court where Lee defeated Edgars Rauza in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4. After an easy first set, Lee jumped out to an early 4-1 lead. But Rauza stormed back, winning three of the next four games to cut Lee's lead to one. Lee held his ground though and won the final set to clinch the match for Penn State.
With the match already determined, Lynch earned his second victory of the day in a nice three-set victory over List, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. Lynch and List battled in the final set and were tied at five. However, the senior captain stormed back winning the final two games and winning the match.
In other singles action, Kendall earned his first singles victory of the season, knocking off Collins, 6-2, 6-3. Also, Hasyn earned his second career singles victory, beating Silbert, 6-4, 6-2.
Penn State will return to action on Sunday, Feb. 22, as the team opens up the Big Ten season at Purdue. The match time is set for noon. Following the Purdue match, the Nittany Lions will host the No. 1-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on March 8 with a 3 p.m. start time.
Final Score: #44 Penn State 7 def. Lehigh 0
Doubles
1. Eddie Bourchier/Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. Troy List/Collin Laffey (Lehigh), 8-3
2. Brendan Lynch/Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) def. Cameron Silbert/Arnaldo Pacheco, 8-2
3. Chris Hasyn/Benji Kendall (PSU) def. Ryan Krueger/Chris Collins, 8-1
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1. Brendan Lynch (PSU) def. Troy List (Lehigh), 6-1, 4-6, 7-5
2. Adam Slagter (PSU) def. Collin Laffey, 6-0, 6-1
3. Eddie Bourchier (PSU) def. Leland Richardson (Lehigh), 6-1, 6-2
4. Jason Lee (PSU) def. Edgars Rauza (Lehigh), 6-1, 6-4
5. Benji Kendall (PSU) def. Chris Collins (Lehigh), 6-2, 6-3
6. Chris Hasyn (PSU) def. Cameron Silbert (Lehigh), 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 6