Feb. 23, 2013
RICHMOND, Va. - The Penn State men's tennis team fell 6-1 against #34 VCU on Saturday. The Nittany Lions dropped the doubles point and five of six singles matches. Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) earned a tough win to avoid the shutout for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions are now 1-6 against ranked opponents this season. VCU was the highest ranked team that Penn State has faced. Penn State has also played against #40 N.C. State, #69 Cornell, #59 New Mexico, #65 Wake Forest, #48 Alabama, and #46 Virginia Tech.
"I feel that VCU is the best team we've played so far," said Head Coach Jeff Zinn. "Of the seven components of the match, we played three well. It's the first time this year that we haven't played well in all phases of the match."
The Rams' two ranked doubles pairs came through for them on Saturday. Alexis Heugas and Dylan McCloskey, ranked 37th in the nation, knocked off Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) and Guanhua Chen (DaLian, China) 8-2.
Barry and Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) paired up for the first time this year, but fell 8-3 against Alejandro Argente and Jaime Vazquez, ranked 38th in the ITA Poll.
C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich) and Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) trailed 6-3 in their match against Max Wennakoski and Michal Voscek, but the match went unfinished.
In singles, Barry fought for a tough 7-6(9-7), 7-6(7-3) victory against VCU's Jaime Vazquez. It was Barry's fifth straight win, all coming out of the sixth spot.
Welnetz, competing in the first spot, dropped a 6-3, 6-2 result against VCU's Max Wennakoski, ranked 14th in the nation. VCU's Alexis Heugas, 93rd in the nation, also lived up to his ranking by defeating Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) 6-0, 6-3.
Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) fell 6-2, 6-3 against VCU's Michal Voscek to clinch the match for the Rams.
Junior Russell Bader won his first set 6-1 against VCU's Alejandro Argente, but Argente fought back in the second and third sets to win the match 1-6, 6-2, 6-3. The loss snapped a four-match win streak for Bader.
Roman Trkulja dropped a tough first set 7-6(7-2) against VCU's Dylan McCloskey. In the second set, McCloskey proved to be too much, winning 6-1.
Despite the disappointing results against ranked competition, Coach Zinn said. "All of this tough competition, in my opinion, is going to help us prepare for the Big Ten."
The Nittany Lions will take on William & Mary on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. Penn State is looking forward to the match.
"William & Mary has a storied history in men's tennis. We look forward to playing another quality opponent," said Coach Zinn.
Doubles:
1. #37 Heugas/McCloskey(VCU) def. Bader/Chen(PSU), 8-2
2. Wennakoski/Voscek(VCU), Griffin/Welnetz(PSU), 6-3, unfinished
3. #38 Argente/Vazquez(VCU) def. Barry/Trkulja(PSU), 8-3
Order of Finish: 1,3,2
Singles:
1. #14 Max Wennakoski(VCU) def. Bryan Welnetz(PSU), 6-3, 6-2
2. #93 Alexis Heugas(VCU) def. Tomas Hanzlik(PSU), 6-0, 6-3
3. Alejandro Argente(VCU) def. Russell Bader(PSU), 1-6, 6-2, 6-3
4. Michal Voscek(VCU) def. Chris Young(PSU), 6-2, 6-3
5. Dylan McCloskey(VCU) def. Roman Trkulja(PSU), 7-6(7-2), 6-1
6. Matt Barry(PSU) def. Jaime Vazquez(VCU), 7-6(9-7), 7-6(7-3)
Order of Finish: 2,1,4,3,5,6