Oct. 19, 2007
PRINCETON, N.J. - The Penn State men's tennis team kicked off play at the Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast Regional Championships with three victories on Friday at Princeton University.
With two wins in singles play on Friday, six Lions occupy slots in the Round of 64 in the main draw. The Nittany Lions also hold three spots in the Round of 32 in the doubles main draw after scoring one victory on Friday.
Senior James Dwyer (Peachtree City, Ga.) defeated Cornell's Rory Heggie (7-6(5), 6-1) in the first round of the singles draw. After trailing in the first, Dwyer rallied late to send the set into a tiebreaker. He won the breaker 7-5, and from there he cruised to the victory. Dwyer will battle Drexel's Omar Laalej in the Round of 64 on Saturday.
Also in the Round of 128, sophomore Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) knocked off Connecticut's Joe Goldstein in straight sets (6-1, 6-3) to advance into the Round of 64. Gormley will now play Jason Sechrist of Boston College on Saturday.
In doubles play, junior Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.) and Gormley knocked off the Monmouth duo of Tom Corrie and Ian Terpolowski by a score of 8-2 to advance into the Round of 32. Lynch and Gormley will meet No. 8 seed Kyle Doppelt and Weston Nichols on Saturday at 8 a.m.
Saturday will mark the first day of play for the seeded players at the ITA Northeast Regional Championships. Four Nittany Lions will begin singles play on Saturday, as well as a pair of Lion teams in doubles.
Senior Michael James (Clifton, Va.), who garnered the No. 1 seed in the singles draw, will take on Yale's Connor Dawson. Third-seeded Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) will play Brown's Jonathan Pearlman or Manhattan's Mihai Nichifor on Saturday.
Fellow junior, Lynch is set to battle Cornell's Josh Goldstein on Saturday. Freshman Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) will meet either Villanova's Dave Shaheen or Stony Brook's Ivan Rummel in his first bout.
In doubles action, Slagter and James, who earned the No. 2 seed in the 64-team draw, will face off with the Drexel team of Omar Laalej and Joe Koebele in their first match on Saturday at 8 a.m.
The No. 3-seeded team of Dwyer and Bourchier will open play on Saturday against the Yale team of Jeff Dawson and Josh Lederman following the 8 a.m. matches.
Action will continue all weekend at Princeton. In singles play, the round of 64 will take place on Saturday. The rounds of 32 and 16 are set for Sunday, with the quarterfinals slated for Monday. The semifinals and the tournament finals will take place on Tuesday. In doubles play, the round of 32 is set for Saturday, with the round of 16 slated on Sunday. The quarterfinals and semifinals will take place on Monday, with the tournament finals set for Tuesday.
For more information on the ITA Northeast Regional Championships, log on to www.itatennis.com.
Wilson/ITA Northeast Regional Championships - October 19, 2007
Singles
Round of 128:
Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. Joe Goldstein (UCONN), 6-1, 6-3
James Dwyer (PSU) def. Rory Heggie (CORNELL), 7-6 (5), 6-1
Doubles
Round of 64:
Brendan Lynch/Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. Tom Corrie/Ian Terpilowski (MONMOUTH), 8-2