Oct. 20, 2007
PRINCETON, N.J. - With the second day of play at the Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast Regional Championships in the books, four members of the Nittany Lion men's tennis team hold spots in the final 32 of the singles draw.
All four Lions will be in action on Sunday in the Round of 32 at Princeton. The doubles team of junior Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.) and sophomore Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) will also be in action on Sunday, as they were the only Penn State doubles team to advance into the Round of 16 in the doubles draw.
Top-seeded senior Michael James (Clifton, Va.) led the way in the singles draw for Penn State. James wasted little time defeating Yale's Connor Dawson by a score of 6-2, 6-1. James will now face Phil Stevens of Farleigh Dickinson in the Round of 32 on Sunday at 8 a.m.
Lynch ousted Cornell's Josh Goldstein in straight sets by a score of 6-3, 6-3. With the victory, seventh-seeded Lynch moves on to face St. Bonaventure's Leo Mochizuki in the Round of 32 following the 8 a.m. matches on Sunday.
Also victorious was freshman Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia), who rallied from a set down to defeat Stony Brook's Ivan Rummel in his first bout of the tournament. After dropping the first by a score of 6-3, Bourchier came storming back to take the final two sets, 6-2, 6-3, to advance into the Round of 32. He will meet Bucknell's Ira Reibeisen on Sunday following the 8 a.m. matches.
Gormley defeated Jason Sechrist of Boston College in straight sets (6-2, 6-1) on Saturday. With the win, Gormley advances into the Round of 32, where he will meet No. 13 seed Artem Vlasenko of St. John's on Sunday at 8 a.m.
Junior Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas), who was the tournament's No. 3 seed, suffered a straight-sets defeat against Brown's Jonathan Pearlman (6-2, 6-4). Senior James Dwyer (Peachtree City, Ga.) also fell out of the draw with a 6-3, 7-6 (5) loss to Drexel's Omar Laalej.
In doubles play, Lynch and Gormley continued their roll with a 9-7 victory over No. 8 seed Kyle Doppelt and Weston Nichols of Cornell to remain in the draw. They will face the Penn team of Justin Fox and Adam Schwartz in the Round of 16 on Sunday.
The two Nittany Lion seeded teams did not fair quite as well on Saturday. Slagter and James, who earned the No. 2 seed in the 64-team draw, were edged by the Drexel team of Omar Laalej and Joe Koebele, 8-6. The No. 3-seeded team of Dwyer and Bourchier also suffered a 9-7 setback at the hands of the Yale team of Jeff Dawson and Josh Lederman.
Action will continue on Sunday at Princeton. In singles, 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 16 is 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 20, 2007
Singles
Round of 64:
(#1) No. 35 Michael James (PSU) def. Connor Dawson (Yale), 6-2, 6-1
Jonathan Pearlman (BROWN) def. (#3) Adam Slagter (PSU), 6-2, 6-4
(#7) Brendan Lynch (PSU) def. Josh Goldstein (CORNELL), 6-3, 6-3
(#16) Eddie Bourchier (PSU) def. Ivan Rummel (STONY BROOK), 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. (#29) Jason Sechrist (BC), 6-2, 6-1
(#26) Omar Laalej (DREXEL) def. James Dwyer (PSU), 6-3, 7-6 (5)
*Seed number in parenthesis
Doubles
Round of 32:
Jason Savage-Pollock/Omar Laalej (DREXEL) def. (#2) No. 36 Michael James/Adam Slagter (PSU), 8-6
Jeff Dawson/Josh Lederman (YALE) def. (#3) James Dwyer/Eddie Bourchier (PSU), 9-7
Brendan Lynch/Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. (#8) Kyle Doppelt/Weston Nichols (CORNELL), 9-7
*Seed number in parenthesis