Sept. 26, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The top-seeded Penn State men's tennis team will take on No. 16-seed Saint Joseph's in the first round of the 16-team ECAC Men's Invitational Tennis Championship on Friday at 8 a.m. at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
The ECAC Invitational Championship marks the Lions' first dual action of the 2007-08 season.
"We are very excited for our upcoming tournament at Flushing Meadows," second-year head coach Todd Doebler. "Our first match will be against Saint Joseph's, who played a tough match against us in last year's event. It should be a fun weekend to play at a historic site as Flushing Meadows. We feel our guys are well prepared going into the event, and we look forward to the challenge."
The winner of the Penn State-Saint Joseph's match will take on the winner of the Dartmouth-Cornell bout on Saturday at 8 a.m. in the quarterfinals of the draw.
Senior Michael James (Clifton, Va.), who is ranked 35th in the ITA national rankings, will lead the Nittany Lions into the only dual tournament of the fall. James, who finished his junior season with a 16-6 mark in duals, went 2-1 in his first outing as a senior at the UVA Fall Classic. James, a member of the 2007 All-Big Ten Team, has won eight of his last 13 singles matches.
Junior Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) will be looking to rebound after dropping a pair of matches in Charlottesville. In doubles action, Slagter and James begin the fall season ranked 36th nationally by the ITA.
Fellow junior Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.) was the hottest Nittany Lion at the UVA Fall Classic. Lynch rolled through his 16-player flight on his way to the singles crown after knocking off fellow Lion Edward Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) in the finals, 6-4, 6-2. Lynch heads to New York with a 4-0 record to start the season.
Bourchier kicked off his Nittany Lion career in impressive fashion in Virginia. The Australian rookie went 3-1 in his first outing as a collegian, including knocking off No. 3-seed George Carpeni of Princeton, 6-3, 6-3, in his flight.
Senior James Dwyer (Peachtree City, Ga.) takes a 1-1 mark to the ECAC Championship. Dwyer went 14-3 in dual action as a junior, including eight victories in his last nine dual outings.
Coming off a strong freshman season, sophomore Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) takes a 2-1 season record into the weekend. Gormley went 15-6 in dual play as Nittany Lion freshman.
Penn, who is the two-time defending champion of the event, knocked off the Penn State the past two seasons at the ECAC Championships. In 2005, the Quakers handed the Nittany Lions a 5-2 defeat. Last season, Penn also ousted Penn State, 4-0, in the semifinals.
Action will continue in Flushing Meadows throughout the weekend. The quarterfinals will take place on Saturday, with the semifinals slated for Sunday. The tournament finals will take place on Monday morning, with the champion garnering a berth into the ITA Men's National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle, Wash., in February.
Following the ECAC Championships, James and Slagter will have a quick turnaround, as they will head to the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championship in Tulsa, Okla., from Oct. 4-7. James will compete in the singles main draw. He will also team up with Slagter to take part in the main doubles draw.