Oct. 31, 2014
ORLANDO, Fla. - The Penn State men's tennis team competed through the second day of the USTA Collegiate Clay Court Invitational presented by Visit Florida. The tournament is hosted by Florida State at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The Nittany Lions played in multiple tight matches in singles and doubles on Friday, with two players advancing in the consolation bracket.
After knocking off the No. 2 seed in the doubles draw on Thursday, sophomore Nika Dolidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) and senior Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) took on Auburn's Petar Tomic and Joseph Van Dooren. In a tight quarterfinal match, the Auburn pair came out on top, 8-6.
Junior Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) and sophomore Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) also competed in a quarterfinal match, facing Florida State's Jose Gracia and Cristian Gonzalez Mendez. In another close match, the Florida State duo won 8-7.
Dolidze matched up against against USC's Rob Bellamy in a Round of 32 match. The sophomore won the opening set, 6-3, but Bellamy responded by winning the second set, 6-4. In a tight deciding set, Bellamy claimed a 7-6(4) win.
After a win on Thursday, Barry took on the fifth overall seed in the singles draw, Florida's Diego Hidalgo. Barry dropped the first set, 6-2, but bounced back, winning the next set, 6-3. In the final set, Hidalgo got a tight 7-6(4) victory.
Despite coming off a tough loss in a match lasting over three and a half hours on Thursday, Fennell got back on track with a 7-6(5), 6-0 victory against UCF's Reece Acree. The sophomore will match up against Florida's Richard Brej on Saturday in another consolation match.
Hanzlik also competed in a consolation match on Friday, facing Stetson's Graham Ball. The senior earned a straight-set win, 6-0, 6-4. The Prague native will meet Miami's Wilfredo Gonzalez on Saturday.
The tournament homepage can be found here: http://www.seminoles.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&SPSID=917069&SPID=157121&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=209717376&DB_OEM_ID=32900.
Please check back to GoPSUSports.com throughout the weekend for more coverage of the USTA Collegiate Clay Court Invitational. Updates are also available on our Facebook, Penn State Men's Tennis, and Twitter, @pennstateMTEN, pages.
Doubles:
Round of 16) Barry/Fennell(PSU) def. Gomez/Ribas(VT), 8-1.
Dolidze/Hanzlik(PSU) def. #24 Augusto/Harrington(Clem), 8-3.
Quarterfinals) Gracia/Gonzalez Mendez(FSU) def. Barry/Fennell(PSU), 8-7.
Tomic/VanDooren(AUB) def. Dolidze/Hanzlik(PSU), 8-6.
Singles:
Round of 64) Matt Barry(PSU) def. Loic Blanco(Stetson), 6-3, 6-3.
Nika Dolidze(PSU) def. Tuki Jacobs(So. Alabama), 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(3).
#124 Eric Johnson(USC) def. Alex Fennell(PSU), 7-5, 5-7, 7-5.
Josh Yablon(Princeton) def. Tomas Hanzlik(PSU), 6-3, 6-3.
Round of 32) Rob Bellamy(USC) def. Nika Dolidze(PSU), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4).
Diego Hidalgo(UF) def. Matt Barry(PSU), 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(4).
Consolation) Alex Fennell(PSU) def. Reece Acree(UCF), 7-6(5), 6-0.
Tomas Hanzlik(PSU) def. Graham Ball(Stetson), 6-0, 6-4.