Sept. 14, 2007
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Penn State men's tennis team kicked off its 2007-08 season in Charlottesville, Va., at the University of Virginia Fall Classic on Friday, with four Nittany Lions advancing into the semifinals of the main draws of the tournament.
Leading the Penn State charge was senior Michael James (Clifton, Va.), who is the second seed in the Red draw. James, who is ranked 35th in the ITA rankings, knocked off Wake Forest's Mariusz Adamski (6-1, 6-2) in the first round of the Red draw. He advanced to the semifinals of the draw with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Virginia's Houston Barrick. James will face off with Damien LaCombe of VCU in the Red draw on Saturday at 12: 15 p.m.
Along with James, junior Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.) and freshman Eddie Bourchier (Tasmania, Australia) qualified for the semifinals in the White draw, giving the Nittany Lions two of the final four slots in the draw. Lynch defeated Penn's Justin Fox in straight sets (6-3, 6-1) in the first round, and then knocked off Alex Stone of Duke in the quarterfinals (6-4, 6-2).
Bourchier defeated White-draw No. 2-seed Mason Schermerhorn of Elon retired (5-4, ret.) in his first collegiate match. The freshman standout then ousted No. 3-seed George Carpeni of Penn (6-4, 6-4) to earn a slot in the semifinals of the draw. Lynch and Bourchier will both take the court at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday looking to meet one another in the finals of the White draw.
Also advancing was sophomore Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.), who punched a ticket to the semifinals of the orange draw. He won in straight sets over James Madison's Mike Smith (7-6, 6-1) in the first round. Gormley then knocked off Philip Nemec of Elon in the quarterfinals (6-2, 6-1).
Senior James Dwyer (Peachtree City, Ga.) defeated Western Michigan's Kevin Hayward (6-2, 6-1) in the first round of the Green singles draw. Dwyer is slated to play Binghamton's Sebastian Dietz in the quarterfinals.
Fellow senior, senior Chris Sherman (Edina, Minn.) defeated Charlotte's Brad Clinard (6-4, 6-3) in the Black singles draw, before dropping a 6-4, 7-6 decision to George Washington's Erik Hannah in the quarters.
Also in the Black draw, sophomore Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) defeated Zach Watson of Radford (6-4, 6-1), but then fell to Harvard's Alexei Chijoff-Evans in the quarterfinals (6-2, 0-6, 6-2).
Freshman Jamie Cox (Acworth, Ga.) scored a victory over Wake Forest's Carlos Salmon (6-2, 7-6) in the Orange draw. He will face Princeton's Alex Vuckovic in the quarterfinals.
Junior Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) dropped a three-set decision to Elon's Damon Gooch (6-3, 3-6, 6-4) in the first round of the Yellow draw. Slagter dropped into the backside of the draw, where he suffered a 7-5, 6-3 setback to Alex Seleznev of Old Dominion
Freshman Jake Toole (Sharon, Mass.) dropped a 6-4, 6-3 decision to David Cardoso of Long Island in the Gray singles draw. In the consolation Gray draw, Toole rebounded with a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Jeff Karsh of Penn.
In doubles action, James and Slagter, who are the No. 3 seed in the A-1 draw, will face the Harvard team of Michael Hayes and Lucien. Bourchier and Dwyer are set to tangle Penn's Jason Pinsky and Justin Fox in the A-2 draw. Sherman and Lynch will take on Raviot Dhatt and Jake Goldberg in the A-2 draw. St-Maurice and Gormley are slated to battle Alex Stone and Aaron Carpenter of Duke in the B-2 draw. The freshman duo of Cox and Toole will play the William & Mary team of Kavi Sud and Sebastien Vidal in the B-2 doubles draw.
Action will continue tomorrow at 9 a.m. in Charlottesville. Two rounds of doubles play will take place, along with one round of singles actions. The finals in singles and doubles will take place on Sunday. For tournament draws and complete results, visit www.virginiasports.com.