| After finishing fourth in the Big Ten Tournament with a 19-7 overall record (7-6 Big Ten), Ryan Berger and No. 52 Penn State look for the university's third all-time NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament appearance and first since 1998. The tournament bracket is set to be announced on May 3. |
Complete Big Ten Championship Coverage
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ?C April 29, 2006 ?C The No.6-seeded Nittany Lion men??s tennis team fell to No. 2 seed Illinois, 4-0 in the semifinals of the 2006 Big Ten Championships at the University of Minnesota??s Baseline Tennis Center Saturday afternoon.
Illinois, the No. 6-ranked team in the country, took a 1-0 lead after sweeping doubles competition. The 17th-nationally ranked Illini duo of Pramod Dabir and Ryler DeHeart downed the Nittany Lions' Ryan Berger (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and Brad Hunter (Atlanta, Ga.), 8-4, at the No. 2 spot and the No. 4 team of Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe took out Mark Barry (St. Charles, Ill.) and Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas), 8-5, at the No. 1 spot to clinch the doubles point.
In singles play, Ruben Gonzales put the Illini up by two with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Hunter at the No. 6 position. Anderson, ranked 23rd in the nation, followed with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Malcolm Scatliffe (San Bernardino, Calif.) at the No. 2 spot. No. 71 Rowe then clinched the match for the defending Big Ten champions with a win over Michael James (Clifton, Va.) (7-6 (6), 6-4).
The 68th-ranked Barry competed for the Nittany Lions at the No. 1 singles spot, but his match was abandoned.
??Mark did a great job vs. Rylan DeHeart who is one of the top 10 singles players in the country,?? said head coach Bill Potoczny. ??The guys played hard and really competed. Illinois was a little too tough today.??
Today??s loss puts the Nittany Lions?? overall record for the season at 19-7, as the Nittany Lions finished sixth in dual matches in Big Ten play and tied for third place in the conference tournament, equaling a Penn State men??s tennis-best finish dating back to 1993.
Illinois improves to 22-5 overall and 11-1 against Big Ten opponents with today??s win, as the Illini continue their quest for a fifth consecutive Big Ten Championship title on Sunday at noon (1 p.m. EST) vs. Ohio State.
No. 52 Penn State looks for its third all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 1998, as the tournament bracket is set to be announced on May 3. NCAA regional competition runs from May 12-14 with the championships slated to span from May 20-29.
Complete Results: #6 ITA/#2 Big Ten Illinois (ILL) 4, #52 ITA/#6 Big Ten Penn State (PSU) 0 Singles 1. #9 Ryler DeHeart (ILL) vs. #68 Mark Barry (PSU), 7-5, 5-7, 1-0, abd. 2. #23 Kevin Anderson (ILL) def. Malcolm Scatliffe (PSU), 6-2, 6-2 3. #87 GD Jones (ILL) led Ryan Berger (PSU), 6-4, 5-4, abd. 4. #71 Ryan Rowe (ILL) def. Michael James (PSU), 7-6 (2), 6-4 5. Adam Slagter (PSU) led Marc Spicijaric (ILL), 6-3, 6-6, abd. 6. Ruben Gonzales (ILL) def. Bradley Hunter (PSU), 6-4, 6-2 Order of finish: 6,2,4 Doubles 1. #4 Anderson/Rowe (ILL) def. Barry/Slagter (PSU), 8-5 2. #17 Pramod Dabir/DeHeart (ILL) def. Berger/Hunter (PSU), 8-4 3. Gonzales/Jones (ILL) led Brenden Lynch/Scatliffe (PSU), 6-4, abd. Order of finish: 2,1