Feb. 29, 2008
Penn State - Northwestern Match Notes in PDF Format
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After spending the entire month of February on the road, the 34th-ranked Penn State men's tennis team (3-5, 0-0) will open its Big Ten slate on Sunday inside the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center with a 10 a.m. match against No. 68 Northwestern (6-6, 0-1).
Penn State heads into the match off its first trip to the ITA National Indoor Team Championships in Seattle. Despite going 0-3, the Lions went toe-to-toe with three teams ranked in the top 10 at the time.
"After two weeks of tough practice, we are eager to open the Big Ten season at home on Sunday," said head coach Todd Doebler. "Northwestern is better than its record indicates, and we are looking forward to the challenge."
In Seattle, Penn State battled No. 1 Virginia in the first round of the draw in Seattle. With the Cavaliers leading 1-0 after securing the doubles point, the Nittany Lions tried to rally in singles action, but 2007 NCAA semifinalist Virginia secured three straight sets victories to sweep the Lions, 4-0.
On the second day, Penn State jumped out to a 1-0 lead after claiming the doubles point against then-No. 9 Notre Dame, but the Irish managed four victories in singles to score a tight 4-2. After scoring the doubles victory, the Lions' momentum was quickly halted when freshman Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) retired during the first game in his singles bout with an ankle injury, which gave the Irish the No. 4 point. From there, Notre Dame scored a pair of wins at the top of the lineup to oust Penn State. On the final day of action in Seattle, Penn State lost a tight doubles point and fell to then-No. 4 Baylor, 4-1. After the Lions dropped a hard fought doubles point, Baylor notched three of the four completed singles matches to secure the 4-1 victory.
Senior Michael James (Clifton, Va.) leads the Lions into Big Ten play. The Nittany Lion senior is ranked a career-high 41st in the ITA National Collegiate singles rankings. James is 4-3 in duals this spring, including four matches against ranked players. He owns a 100-32 overall record at Penn State.
Junior Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.) and sophomore Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) have both kicked off the spring season with stout play in the singles lineup. Lynch, who has won eight of his last 10 singles outings, is 6-2 in duals and 17-5 overall. Gormley possesses a 5-2 dual-match record, and is 12-6 overall this season.
The Nittany Lions moved up to tie a program-high 34th team ranking in the ITA National Collegiate poll released on Feb. 26. The Lions reached a program-high 34th in April last spring after knocking off No. 29 Minnesota.
The Wildcats head into the weekend on a two-match losing skid. After scoring four victories in their first five outings, Northwestern has gone 2-5 in the last seven matches. Nonetheless, all six of their losses have come at the hands of ranked opponents. Junior Marc Dwyer, brother of Nittany Lion James Dwyer (Peachtree City, Ga.), has played nine matches at the top of the lineup for Northwestern. He is 6-6 on the year in dual matches. In his last outing, Dwyer was a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 winner over Jason Jung of Michigan in the No. 1 match. Alex Sanborn owns a team-best 9-3 record in dual matches, including a 5-1 mark at the No. 3 match.
Northwestern leads the all-time series 15-3 over Penn State. Last season, Penn State notched a tight 4-3 victory in Evanston. After claiming a tight doubles point, Penn State lost the top two singles matches, but rallied at the bottom of the lineup to clinch the victory. James Dwyer clinched the bout with three-set victory over Sanborn at No. 6 (6-2, 5-7, 6-4).
Penn State will take a week off before heading on a spring break trip to Montgomery, Ala., from March 13-16 for the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic. The prestigious tournament has featured some of the nation's elite collegiate tennis players for nearly 60 years. Of the 16 teams participating at the Blue-Gray, 14 of them are ranked nationally. Each team is guaranteed three matches in Montgomery.