Oct. 20, 2011
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Penn State men's tennis team returns to Charlottesville, Va., for the second straight weekend to challenge fierce competition in the ITA Atlantic Regional Championships. Six Nittany Lions will take part in the 128-player singles tournament. Three doubles teams will also make the trek to the Virginia.
Action began Thursday afternoon at the Snyder Tennis Center with singles tournament qualifying rounds. The main draw will begin Friday with one round of doubles and singles play. The tournament will crown champions Tuesday, Oct. 25.
In singles action, junior Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) and senior Jason Lee (Sydney, Australia) earned first round byes, automatically advancing to the round of 64. Welnetz will face the winner of Virginia Tech's Trpimir Kujundzic and Delaware's Adam Lawton, while Lee will face off against the winner of Jorge Osuna of George Mason and Daniel Gray of the University of Maryland-Baltimore Campus.
Freshman Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) enters the ITA Atlantic Regional Championships after another strong showing in his second collegiate tournament, finishing third in his flight at the UVa Fall Classic. Hanzlik will open play in the ITA Regional Championships against William & Mary's John Banks Friday at 10 a.m. Sophomore Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) also enters the Regional Championships on a hot streak after reeling off four straight matches to earn a consolation bracket championship last weekend. He will begin play Friday at 10 a.m. against Leo Lapentti of George Washington.
The singles bracket also features sophomore Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia), who will start play against Old Dominion's Fahoum Fahoum Friday morning.
Three teams of Nittany Lions will take the court in doubles play. Lee and Hanzlik will meet Virginia Tech's Lovrinovic and Antun, while Welnetz and Bader will start against Pool and Sentenac of James Madison.
Following the completion of the ITA Atlantic Regional Championships, Penn State will return home before heading to Iowa City, Iowa to compete in the Big Ten Singles Championships, Oct. 28-31.