Feb. 2, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State (3-1) started slowly against its regional nemesis, No. 63 Princeton (0-3), but was not to be outdone on its home court. The Nittany Lions surged back from an early 2-0 deficit, taking the next four to upend the Tigers, 4-3, Wednesday night at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center.
"The guys believe in themselves, and it showed tonight," said head coach Jeff Zinn. "That is a very good team that we played tonight in Princeton. I am very pleased that we are doing the things that we talk about practice. We are slowly getting better and hopefully we can build off this."
The Lions began slowly in doubles play, with senior Taylor Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.) and red-shirt junior Christopher Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.) and juniors C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich.) and Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) falling by identical, 8-3, scores in the second and third doubles slots. Once the doubles point was already decided, senior Jason Lee (Sydney, Australia) and sophomore Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) put on a show.
The duo faced off against the nation's No. 11 doubles team, consisting of Matt Siow and Matt Spindler. Lee and Bader jumped ahead quickly, breaking Princeton's serve and taking a 2-1 lead. Siow and Spindler jumped back in front though and took control of the match. The Nittany Lion tandem would not be turned away that easily though. They kept pace and eventually won an exhilarating game to even the tally at 7-7. Due to the doubles point having been clinched already, the match went to a tie-breaker at 7-7 instead of the traditional 8-8. Lee and Bader were in control from the start of the breaker though, cruising to 7-4 victory and notching a major upset that turned the momentum in Penn State's favor.
Lee returned to the court in first singles against a nationally-ranked (No. 46) Matija Pecotic. Pecotic jumped ahead, taking the first set, 6-2. Lee battled in the second set, taking a 5-2 lead over the Tigers' ace, but could not hold on, as Pecotic pushed Lee to and eventually won a tie-breaker, 7-3. The win gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead in the match, but from that point forward, the Nittany Lions played with a fire in their eyes, pressing the Tigers on every point and every game.
"The guys really bought into our philosophy," said Zinn. "They did not give up. They did not quit. They did not press the issue. We believe that good things will happen if we do not do those things, and they did tonight. We won a lot of 7-6 matches, and there is a reason for that."
The comeback began with Bader in the second singles position. After falling in the first set, 6-4, the Texan leveled his bout with a 6-0 dismantling of Princeton's Augie Bloom in the second set, setting the stage for a wild third set. Bloom controlled the stanza throughout, but Bader would not be denied. He fought until the set was tied at six game apiece and a tie-breaker had been forced. The pair was locked in a 4-4 tie in the breaker before Bader caught fire and went on a 3-0 run to finish off Bloom, giving the Nittany Lions the spark they needed.
Next, Cohen rebounded from dropping the first set, 6-4, by blasting Siow in the second set of their fourth singles duel, 6-2. Once again, the Nittany Lions found themselves in a third set dog fight. Cohen and Siow tussled back and forth as Siow maintained a one-game lead through much of the set. Cohen managed to take two games in a row to close the set tied, 6-6, sending the match to a yet another tie-breaker. As in the third set, the duo traded points in an exciting showdown. With the score tied, 5-5, Cohen delivered a perfect forehand and a beautiful return volley to run off the final two points of the game and earn the second consecutive victory for Penn State.
After that, freshman Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) took center stage in his third singles match against Spindler. The Czech native came into the match ranked 80th in the country and showed his metal during a hard-fought contest. Hanzlik took the first set convincingly, 6-3. He also jumped out to 5-2 lead in the second set, but could not hold on, as Spindler chipped back and eventually won the set in a tie-breaker, 7-6 (2). The freshman sensation would not be outdone, though. He buckled down and took third set forcefully, 6-1, setting up Hasyn with the opportunity to earn a rare victory against Princeton.
The senior co-captain answered the call for Penn State. Hasyn jumped ahead of Ravi Yegya-Raman in the first set, 6-3, in the No. 6 singles bout. He breezed his way to a 4-2 lead in the second set, as well, but could not hold the lead. Yegya-Raman responded, tying the decisive match at four apiece on a tough drop shot. Hasyn regained the lead at 5-4, but Yegya-Raman tied the match yet again, this time on a disputed backhand and a slick forehand shot. The duo then traded points and went to a heated tie-breaker to decide the match. With the breaker tied at 5-5 and the players fully exhausted, Yegya-Raman made a mistake. He hit a backhand return just wide, giving Hasyn a 6-5 lead. The Nittany Lions co-captain then sealed the match with a backhand winner down the line, giving Penn State the lead, 4-2, and sealing Penn State's sixth-ever win in 26 tries against Princeton.
After Hasyn had clinched the match, Welnetz fell in fifth singles to Zack McCourt, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3, to conclude the action.
Final Score: Penn State 4, #63 Princeton 3
Doubles:
1. Jason Lee/Russell Bader (PSU) def. #11 Matt Siow/Matt Spindler (PRIN), 8-7 (4)
2. Matija Pecotic/Augie Bloom (PRIN) def. Taylor Cohen/Christopher Hasyn (PSU), 8-3
3. Yohei Shoji/Michael Lin (PRIN) def. C.J. Griffin/Bryan Welnetz (PSU), 8-3
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles:
1. #46 Matija Pecotic (PRIN) def. Jason Lee (PSU), 6-2, 7-6 (3)
2. Russell Bader (PSU) def. Augie Bloom (PRIN), 4-6, 6-0, 7-6 (4)
3. #80 Tomas Hanzlik (PSU) def. Matt Spindler (PRIN), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-1
4. Taylor Cohen (PSU) def. Matt Siow (PRIN), 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5)
5. Zack McCourt (PRIN) def. Bryan Welnetz (PSU), 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3
6. Christopher Hasyn (PSU) Ravi Yegya-Raman (PRIN), 6-3, 7-6 (5)
Order of finish: 1, 2, 4, 3, 6, 5
Penn State will continue its homestand Saturday, Feb. 4 with a doubleheader against No. 34 Virginia Tech and Bloomsburg. The action begins at noon with the second match scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Admission is free for all fans and free pizza will be available for all in attendance, as well.