| Sophomore Adam Slagter and the 50th-ranked Nittany Lions defeated the Red Storm of St John's to remain undefeated on the season. Penn State (6-0) will open Big Ten play at Northwestern on Friday in Evanston, Ill. |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; February 11, 2007 ?C After sweeping St. Bonaventure and Bloomsburg on Saturday, the 50th-ranked Nittany Lion men??s tennis team capped off its six-match homestand with a 6-1 win over St. John??s on Sunday at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center.
Penn State moves to a perfect 6-0 on the season with Big Ten play slated to start on Friday in Evanston, Ill. when the Nittany Lions take on Northwestern.
??I was pleased with the performance in doubles today,?? said head coach Todd Doebler. ??We followed that up with a good team effort in singles play.??
The Nittany Lions took two of the three doubles matches against the Red Storm. At the No. 1 spot, junior Michael James (Clifton, Va.) and sophomore Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) needed only one break to defeat Louis Desmarteaux and Alex Svetlakov of the Red Storm. The Nittany Lion pair took the match by a score of 8-6. James and Slagter, who are ranked 23rd in the ITA National Doubles Poll, improve to 11-1 on the season, including a perfect 6-0 record in dual matches.
At the No. 2 spot, senior Ryan Berger (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and freshman Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) dropped their first match as a doubles team. The Red Storm??s Tom Green and Artem Vlasenko defeated the Nittany Lion team by a score of 8-6.
Freshman Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) and junior Chris Sherman (Edina, Minn.) sealed the doubles point for the Nittany Lions with their win over Martin Kosut and Claudio Halim. Gormley and Sherman got up early, and cruised to an 8-2 win at the No. 3 spot.
The match then turned to singles action. At the No. 1 spot, James suffered his first defeat of the spring against Desmarteaux. James dropped a tight first set by a score of 6-4. However, the Nittany Lion junior fought back to event the match at one set each. James cruised to a 6-3 edge in the second set. Then Desmarteaux jumped out to 5-1 lead in the decisive set, but James grabbed a break to cut the margin to 5-3. Nevertheless, Desmarteaux served out the match (6-4, 3-6, 6-3). James falls to 15-3 on the year.
At the No. 2 spot, Berger cruised to a straight-set win over Vlasenko. After a convincing first-set win (6-2), the Nittany Lion senior controlled the pace of the second. Berger went on to win the second set by a margin of 6-3. With the win, Berger improves to 5-0 in dual matches and 12-4 overall.
Slagter dominated the Red Storm??s Svetlakov at the No. 3 spot. He wasted little time grabbing a one-set lead (6-3). Slagter then used his big serve to control the second, and then win the match (6-3). The sophomore is now 10-4 this season.
St-Maurice outlasted Kosut at the No. 4 spot to seal his 14th win as a Nittany Lion freshman. St-Maurice needed one break to take the first set by a score of 6-4. After dropping a second-set tiebreak, St-Maurice trailed 3-0 in the third. The Nittany Lion rookie rallied to win seven of the next nine games on his way to taking the third set (7-5). St-Maurice is now 6-0 in dual matches this season.
Gormley and junior James Dwyer (Peachtree City, Ga.) sailed to straight-set victories at the No. 5 and 6 spots, respectively. Gormley was a 6-0, 6-2 winner over Green. Gormley is now 10-2 this season and 6-0 in dual matches in his first year as a collegian. Dwyer defeated Derek Wallensteen by a score of 6-3, 6-2. Dwyer is 8-4 on the year.
Penn State now moves into Big Ten competition with a pair of matches slated for next weekend. The Nittany Lions will play at Northwestern on Friday at 7 p.m. Penn State will closeout the weekend with a 1 p.m. match in Madison against Wisconsin. The Nittany Lions will return home on Feb. 22 against Bucknell.
Final Score: Penn State 6, St. John??s 1
Doubles
1: Michael James/ Adam Slagter (PSU) def. Louis Desmarteaux / Alex Svetlakov (St. John??s.), 8-6
2: Tom Green / Artem Vlasenko (St. John??s) def. Ryan Berger/ Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU), 8-6
3: Chris Sherman/ Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. Martin Kosut / Claudio Halim (St. John??s), 8-2
Singles
1: Louis Desmarteaux (St. John??s) def. Michael James (PSU), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
2: Ryan Berger (PSU) def. Artem Vlasenko (St. John??s), 6-2, 6-3
3: Adam Slagter (PSU) def. Alex Svetlakov (St. John??s.), 6-3, 6-3
4: Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) def. Martin Kosut (St. John??s), 6-4, 6-7, 7-5
5: Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. Tom Green (St. John??s), 6-0, 6-2
6: James Dwyer (PSU) def. Derek Wallensteen (St. John??s), 6-3, 6-2