Jan. 31, 2010
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Penn State men's tennis team (3-1, 0-0) picked up a 6-1 victory over the No. 59 Furman Paladins on the final day of ITA Kick-Off Weekend on Sunday. Penn State is off to its best start since the 2007 season, when the Nittany Lions started a perfect 7-0.
The Nittany Lions came out to win two of the three doubles matches to clinch the doubles point. From there, Penn State went on to win its first three singles matches to clinch the match. The Lions finished the day with five singles victories.
In doubles action, junior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) teamed up with sophomore Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) and faced Furman's Chris Motes and Chris Rhyne. The Nittany Lion tandem won the match in close fashion, 8-5, to give Penn State an early advantage in doubles play. In the No. 3 doubles bout, Andrei Chvestov and Jordan Walters of Furman defeated senior Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) and sophomore Taylor Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.), 9-7, to even out doubles competition.
The doubles point was decided in the No. 2 match up where senior Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) and freshman Warren Hardie (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) took on Furman's Sawyer Duncan and Andrew Mellow. The match went back and forth and was eventually decided in a tiebreaker. Gormley and Hardie won the tiebreaker and match, 9-8 (5), to clinch the doubles point for Penn State.
With Penn State leading 1-0, the match moved on to singles action. After a tough loss on Saturday, Lee came back Sunday and won his match in straight sets over Jordan Walters, 6-2, 6-1. The Nittany Lions garnered a 3-0 lead when freshman Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) picked up his first singles victory of the weekend, as he earned a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Andrei Chvestov.
The overall match was clinched in the No. 2 bout when Bourchier downed Chris Motes in straight-sets, 6-4, 6-3. With the victory, Bourchier improves to 4-0 on the spring season in singles action, and 11-3 overall. The junior finished the weekend with a combined 3-0 record in singles and doubles action.
With the match already decided, Cohen picked up his second singles victory of the season with a 6-4, 7-6 (11) victory over Furman's Andrew Mellow. Gormley had a tough three-set loss to Furman's Sawyer Duncan, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, in the No. 1 bout. St-Maurice bounced back from his loss on Saturday by defeating Carl Lundberg in a tiebreaking third set, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 1-0 (10-6).
The Nittany Lions will return to Happy Valley next Sunday, Feb. 7 for a doubleheader match up with Bloomsburg and Maryland. Penn State will kick-off the day with a noon dual vs. the Terrapins followed by a 5 p.m. battle with the Huskies. The two matches on the 7th will be the beginning of an eight-match homestand. The Nittany Lions open up Big Ten play on March 7 at home vs. Purdue. Admission to all Penn State tennis home matches is free.
Final Score: #55 Penn State 6 #59 Furman 1
Doubles
1. Eddie Bourchier/Jason Lee (PSU) def. Chris Motes/Chris Rhyne (Furman), 8-5
2. Warren Hardie/Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. Sawyer Duncan/Andrew Mellow (Furman), 9-8 (5)
3. Andrei Chvestov/Jordan Walters (Furman) def. Taylor Cohen/Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU), 9-7
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1. Sawyer Duncan (Furman) def. Ryan Gormley (PSU), 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
2. Eddie Bourchier (PSU) def. Chirs Motes (Furman), 6-4, 6-3
3. Jason Lee (PSU) def. Jordan Walters (Furman), 6-2, 6-1
4. Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) def. Carl Lundberg (Furman), 6-4, 6-7 (4), 1-0 (10-6)
5. Bryan Welnetz (PSU) def. Andrei Chvestov (Furman), 6-4, 6-4
6. Taylor Cohen (PSU) def. Andrew Mellow (Furman), 6-4, 7-6 (11)
Order of finish: 3, 5, 2, 6, 1, 4