Sept. 18, 2010
PRINCETON, N.J. - The Penn State men's tennis team had an excellent performance on day two of the Farnsworth/Princeton Invitational. The Nittany Lions will be playing for five championships tomorrow afternoon.
In Flight "A" doubles action, junior Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) and senior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) advanced to the finals of their bracket, as they defeated Cornell's Columbia's Kevin Kung and Nathaniel Gery, 8-5. With the victory, Bourchier and Lee will face Eugen Brazdil and Lucas Andreika of Penn on Sunday.
The Lions were dominant in Flight "B" doubles as well, as junior Taylor Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.) and sophomore Guanhua Chen (DaLian, China) advanced to the finals with a win over Dom Hemy and Yuri Gricheno of Fairleigh Dickinson, 8-2. Cohen and Chen will face Yohei Shoji and Alex Faust of Princeton tomorrow.
In Flight "A" singles, senior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) defeated Princeton's Matjia Pecotic, 6-0, 6-1, to advance to third round of the flight. At the same time, sophomore Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) defeated Buffalo's Wotjek Starackiewicz, 7-6 (7), 5-7, 6-3, to advance to a third round matchup with Bourchier. Bourchier defeated Welnetz in a great match, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Jason Lee lost his second round match in the draw.
Over in Flight "B" singles, Cohen defeated Ruben Devos of Binghamton, 6-2, 7-6 (5), to advance to the third round. Additionally, freshman Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) downed Columbia's Kevin Kung, 7-5, 7-6 (2), to also advance to the third round. Cohen went on to defeat Joel Samaha of Yale, 6-3, 6-3. Bader downed George Tibil from Buffalo, 6-3, 6-3. With the wins, the two Nittany Lions will face off in the championship match tomorrow.
In the Flight "E" bracket, Chen lost his match to Matty Najfeld of St. John's, 7-6, 6-0. He went on to pick up a victory in the consolation bracket. In consolation action junior Chris Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.) lost his match and sophomore C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich.) picked up two wins.
Following competition at Princeton, Penn State will return the following week to the USTA Invitational at Flushing Meadows, N.Y., home of the U.S. Open, from Sept. 24-26.
Doubles
Flight "A"
Semifinal) Jason Lee/Eddie Bourchier (Penn State) def. Kevin Kung and Nathaniel Gery (Columbia), 8-5
Flight "B"
Semifinal) Guanhua Chen/Taylor Cohen (Penn State) def. Dom Hemy/Yuri Gricheno (FDU), 8-2
Singles
Flight "A"
Round 2) Eddie Bourchier (Penn State) def. Matjia Pecotic (Princeton), 6-0, 6-1
Round 2) Marc Powers (Yale) def. Jason Lee (Penn State), 6-2, 6-3
Round 2) Bryan Welnetz (Penn State) def. Wotjek Starackiewicz (Buffalo), 7-6 (7), 5-7, 6-3
Semifinal) Eddie Bourchier (Penn State) def. Bryan Welnetz (Penn State), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
QF Consolation) Milo Hauk (St. John's) def. Jason Lee (Penn State), walkover
Flight "B"
Round 2) Taylor Cohen (Penn State) def. Ruben Devos (Binghamton), 6-2, 7-6 (5)
Round 2) Russell Bader (Penn State) def. Kevin Kung (Columbia), 7-5, 7-6 (2)
Semifinal) Taylor Cohen (Penn State) def. Joel Samaha (Yale), 6-3, 6-3
Semifinal) Russell Bader (Penn State) def. George Tibil (Buffalo), 6-3, 6-3
Flight "C"
Consolation) C.J. Griffin (Penn State) def. Evan Algier (Binghamton), 6-4, 7-5
Consolation) C.J Griffin (Penn State) def. Peter Skvarka (FDU), 6-2, 5-7, 6-1
Flight "D"
Consolation) Zhongming Chen (Cornell) def. Chris Hasyn (Penn State), 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
Flight "E"
Round 2) Matty Najfeld (St. John's) def. Guanhua Chen (Penn State), 7-6 (0), 6-4
SF Consolation) Guanhua Chen (Penn State) def. Dusty Goldenberg (St. John's), retired