Oct. 22, 2011
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Penn State men's tennis team began preliminary rounds of play at the ITA Atlantic Regional Championships Friday afternoon. Two Nittany Lions advanced to the round of 64 in singles competition. Play will continue Saturday afternoon with one round of both singles and doubles play.
Freshman Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) became the third of four Nittany Lions to earn a spot in the round of 64, defeating William & Mary's John Banks. Hanzlik jumped out to a fast start, earning a 6-2 first set victory. Banks pushed Hanzlik to a tie-breaker in the second set, but Hanzlik responded and took the breaker, 7-2. He will now face Virginia Tech's Lucas Oliviera in the round of 64.
Sophomore Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) then took down George Washington's Leo Lapentti in convincing fashion, 6-1, 6-2, to advance to the second round. Joining Bader and Hanzlik in the round of 64 will be junior Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) and senior Jason Lee (Sydney, Australia) who advanced with automatic byes in the first round.
Sophomore Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) fell to Old Dominion's Fahoum Fahoum, 4-6, 3-6 in first round play. He will enter the consolation singles bracket against Virginia Tech's Joe Pine. In doubles competition, both tandems of Lee and Hanzlik (8-9) and Bader and Welnetz (6-8) fell in first round action.
Following the completion of the ITA Atlantic Regional Championships, the Nittany Lions will head to Iowa City, Iowa to compete in the Big Ten Singles Championships, Oct. 28-31.
Singles:
Round 1) Tomas Hanzlik (PSU) def. John Banks (W&M), 6-2, 7-6 (2)
Round 1) Russell Bader (PSU) def. Leo Lapentti (GW), 6-1, 6-2
Round 1) Fahoum Fahoum (ODU) def. Chris Young (PSU), 6-4, 6-3
Doubles:
Round 1) Lovrinovic/Antun (VA TECH) def. Lee/Hanzlik (PSU), 9-8
Round 1) Pool/Sentenac (JMU) def. Bader/Welnetz (PSU), 8-6