| Freshman Ryan Gormley rallied from 4-1 down in the third set to take his match over Northwestern's Marc Dwyer, helping the Nittany Lions seal a 4-3 win over the No. 38 Wildcats. |
EVANSTON, Ill.; February 16, 2007 ?C In the 2007 Big Ten opener, the 51st-ranked Penn State men??s tennis team squeaked past No. 38 Northwestern by a score of 4-3 at Combe Tennis Center on Friday to remain undefeated on the season.
Penn State (7-0, 1-0 Big Ten) took a 1-0 lead in the match after winning the doubles point. From there, the Wildcats and Nittany Lions split the singles points, handing Penn State the 4-3 victory. The thrilling contest saw three of the six singles bouts head to a vital third set.
??This was an unbelievable college match between two teams that competed hard and left everything on the court,?? said head coach Todd Doebler. ??I am really proud of how we competed as a team. This should give us confidence heading into a tough match at Wisconsin on Sunday??
In doubles, junior Chris Sherman (Edina, Minn.) and freshman Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) defeated Northwestern??s Christian Tempke and Juan Gomez by a score of 8-4 at the No. 3 spot to give the Nittany Lions the early edge in the first completed match of the night. The Nittany Lion duo grabbed a break in the seventh game to take a 5-2 lead. Sherman and St-Maurice, who were paired together for the first time this season, did not look back as they cruised to an 8-4 victory.
At the No. 2 spot, seniors Bradley Hunter (Atlanta, Ga.) and Ryan Berger (Grand Rapids, Mich.) suffered an 8-5 loss at the hands of the Wildcats?? Marc Dwyer and Alex Sanborn. In his first appearance of 2007, Hunter and fellow co-captain Berger were on serve until the 10th game. The Wildcat pair broke the Nittany Lion captains to take a 6-4 lead. Dwyer and Sanborn served out the match to even the doubles action at one.
With the doubles point up for grabs, it all came down to the No. 1 spot, featuring two teams ranked in the Top 30 of the ITA National Doubles Poll. The 23rd-ranked Nittany Lion pair of junior Michael James (Clifton, Va.) and sophomore Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) took on Northwestern??s Matt Christian and Willy Lock, who are ranked 27th in the nation. James and Slagter trailed 6-4 before breaking Lock and Christian to get back on serve. Both teams held serve, with the Nittany Lions capturing the 16th game, sending the deciding doubles match into a tiebreak. The Nittany Lion team saved a remarkable six match points prior to sending the match into a tiebreaker. James and Slagter went on to take the breaker, giving the Nittany Lions the match (9-8) and the doubles point. The Nittany Lion duo moves to 12-1 on the season, including seven straight victories.
??In doubles, Chris and Guillaume gave us an early boost of momentum,?? said Doebler. ??Then Adam and Michael did a great job saving six match points, and then winning the doubles point in the tiebreaker.??
With Penn State up 1-0, the match turned to singles action. At the No. 1 spot, James fell behind early in the first set to Tempke, and could not recover. Tempke took the set by a 6-2 margin over the Nittany Lion junior. In the second, Tempke cruised to a 6-2 edge to even the match at one. With the loss, James falls to 15-4 on the season and 4-2 in duals.
Slagter gave Penn State a 2-1 edge in the match after a straight-set win over Christian at the No. 3 spot (7-5, 6-4). With the first set tied at five, Slagter broke the Wildcat senior on his way to a 7-5 edge. In the second, Slagter once again broke Christian in the 10th game of the set, allowing him to take the match. The Nittany Lion sophomore moves to 11-4 on the season, including and a perfect 5-0 record in dual matches.
Freshman Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) dropped the first set to Northwestern??s Dwyer at the No. 4 spot (6-4), but rallied to take the next two, giving the Nittany Lions a 3-1 lead in the match. Gormley, who has now won seven straight matches, took the second set in No. 4 bout by a score of 6-3. In the decisive set, the Nittany Lion rookie trailed Dwyer 4-1. Looking like a veteran, Gormley stayed calm and fought back to defeat an experienced Dwyer, 6-4, sealing the point for Penn State. Gormley moves to an impressive 7-0 in duals and 11-2 overall in his first collegiate season.
At the No. 2 spot, Berger was upended by Lock in straight sets. The Penn State senior dropped the first set in a tiebreaker (7-6). Lock and Berger were even in the second until the 10th game. Lock was able to break Berger to win the match, allowing the Wildcats to cut the Nittany Lion lead to 3-2. Berger falls to 12-5 on the year.
St-Maurice grabbed a break midway through the first set at the No. 5 slot. From there, the Nittany Lion rookie took a one-set lead over Gomez (6-3). However Gomez rallied to take the next two sets (6-4, 6-1). The Gomez win evened the match at three, leaving the deciding point up for grabs in the No. 6 match.
Junior James Dwyer (Peachtree City, Ga.) cruised to a 6-2 win in the first set at the No. 6 slot, but the Wildcats?? Sanborn stormed back to take the second (7-5). In the deciding set, Dwyer broke Sanborn with the score reading 5-4 in favor of the Nittany Lion junior, sealing the match for the Penn State. Dwyer is now 9-4 on the year, including a 6-1 mark in dual matches.
??In singles, I was really proud of how Ryan Gormley came back from a 4-1 deficit in the third set to beat a very good player,?? said Doebler. ??It was very exciting for James [Dwyer] to clinch the match for the team.??
With the loss, Northwestern falls to 5-5 on the season and 0-1 in the Big Ten.
Penn State continues its road trip on Sunday in Madison, Wis. The Nittany Lions will take on No. 50 Wisconsin at 1 p.m. Penn State will return home on Feb. 22 when the Bucknell Bison visit the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center. The first serve is set for 6:30 p.m. Admission is free.
Final Score: Penn State 4, Northwestern 3
Doubles
1: #23 Michael James/Adam Slagter (PSU) def. #27 Matt Christian/Willy Lock (Northwestern), 9-8
2: Marc Dwyer/Alex Sanborn (Northwestern) def. Bradley Hunter/Ryan Berger (PSU), 8-5
3: Chris Sherman/Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) def. Christian Tempke/Juan Gomez (Northwestern), 8-4
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1: Christian Tempke (Northwestern) def. Michael James (PSU), 6-2, 6-2
2: Willy Lock (Northwestern) def. Ryan Berger (PSU), 7-6, 6-4
3: Adam Slagter (PSU) def. Matt Christian (Northwestern), 7-5, 6-4
4: Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. Marc Dwyer (Northwestern), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
5: Juan Gomez (Northwestern) def. Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
6: James Dwyer (PSU) def. Alex Sanborn (Northwestern), 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 4, 2, 5, 6