March 24, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The 36th-ranked Penn State men's tennis team (6-8, 1-2) suffered a heartbreaking 5-2 loss at the hands of No. 14 Michigan at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center on Monday.
Michigan snatched the doubles point by picking up a pair of victories, but the Nittany Lions fought back in singles action. After the Lions cut the score to 3-2 with four singles bouts completed, Michigan pulled out a pair of clutch three-set victories at the bottom of the lineup to clinch the nail-biting 5-2 victory. For the second consecutive day, the Nittany Lions had an opportunity to knock off a ranked opponent in the Big Ten, but fell short.
"Today was another really close match, but Michigan was able to pull through," said head coach Todd Doebler. "The last two days are matches that in the long run are going to make us better as a program. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from two close losses to two very good teams."
At No. 2 in doubles action, Michigan's 20th-ranked duo of Matko Maravic and George Navas struck first with an 8-4 victory over junior Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) sophomore Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.). Maravic and Navas secured the only break they needed in the sixth game of the pro-set. The Michigan team used the break to cruise to the 8-4 triumph.
Senior Michael James (Clifton, Va.) and junior Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.), who are ranked 34th in the ITA doubles rankings, remained blistering hot at No. 1 in the doubles lineup. The Lion team battled past Michigan's 21st-ranked team of Jason Jung and Mike Sroczynski. James and Lynch secured a pivotal break late in the pro-set to take a 7-6 lead. Penn State then served out the match to clinch the 8-6 victory. Lynch and James are now a perfect 10-0 this spring in dual matches.
Nevertheless, Michigan clinched the point with a victory in the No. 3 bout. The Wolverine duo of Chris Madden and Andrew Mazlin, who are ranked 56th in the ITA doubles rankings ousted senior James Dwyer (Peachtree City, Ga.) and freshman Eddie Bourchier by an 8-4 margin to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead in the overall match.
With Michigan leading 1-0, the matched turned to singles action. Michigan set the score at 2-0 with a straight-sets victory at No. 4. Mazlin ousted Bourchier by a score of 6-3, 6-2 to put the Wolverines ahead.
Lynch gave the Nittany Lions their first point on the afternoon with a straight-sets decision over Sroczynski at No. 3. Lynch needed just two breaks over the course of two sets to secure the victory. The Lion junior secured the 6-4, 6-4 victory to set the match score at 2-1. Lynch improved to 20-7 on the year, including a 9-4 in mark in dual matches.
At No. 1, 52nd-ranked James battled Maravic for three sets, but fell short in the decision. After clawing to a thrilling first-set tiebreak victory, James found himself up by a score of 5-4 with an opportunity to serve for the match. Nevertheless, Maravic, who is ranked 61st in the nation, came up with a sequence of huge points to seal a service break. Maravic rode that momentum into a second-set breaker. He knotted the match at a set apiece with a tight 8-6 decision in the tiebreaker. In the decisive third set, Maravic closed out the No. 1 point with a 6-3 victory to hand the Wolverines a 3-1 lead in the match.
The Nittany Lions were not done. Slagter battled to narrow three-set triumph over Jung in the No. 2 clash. Jung notched the first with a 7-6 (4) victory. Slagter came roaring back in the second set with a 6-4 victory of his own. The third set featured a superb display of collegiate tennis. Both players battled through long points in nearly every game of the decisive set. Slagter and Jung held service all the way through the set, which resulted in a tiebreaker. Slagter came up with a clutch 7-4 victory in the breaker to notch the point for the Lions, setting the overall score at 3-2.
From there, all eyes turned to the fifth and sixth singles bouts. Both matches went the distance, but Michigan came up with a pair of wins to clinch the hard-fought victory. Dwyer dropped a three-set decision to Michigan's Peter Aarts (6-3, 2-6, 5-7) at No. 5, which clinched the overall Michigan victory.
With the match clinched for the Wolverines, Lion sophomore Guillaume St-Maurice (St-Eustache, Quebec) rallied from one set down, but dropped a three-set affair to Madden (6-0, 6-7 (5), 7-5) to set the final score at 5-2, in favor of the Wolverines.
Penn State will host four matches next weekend, including a pair of Big Ten battles against Minnesota and Iowa. The Nittany Lions first host Minnesota (3 p.m.) and Lehigh (7 p.m.) on Friday. On Sunday, Penn State welcomes Iowa (10 a.m.) and St Bonaventure (3 p.m.) to Happy Valley.
Final Score: #14 Michigan 5, #36 Penn State 2
Doubles:
1. #34 Brendan Lynch/Michael James (PSU) def. #21 Jason Jung/Mike Sroczynski (MICH), 8-6
2. #20 Matko Maravic/George Navas (MICH) def. Adam Slagter/Ryan Gormley (PSU), 8-4
3. #56 Chris Madden/Andrew Mazlin (MICH) def. Eddie Bourchier/James Dwyer (PSU), 8-4
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles:
1. #61 Matko Maravic (MICH) def. #52 Michael James (PSU), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6), 6-3
2. Adam Slagter (PSU) def. #124 Jason Jung (MICH), 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (4)
3. Brendan Lynch (PSU) def. Mike Sroczynski (MICH), 6-4, 6-4
4. Andrew Mazlin (MICH) def. Eddie Bourchier (PSU), 6-3, 6-2
5. Peter Aarts (MICH) def. James Dwyer (PSU), 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
6. Chris Madden (MICH) def. Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU), 6-0, 6-7 (5), 7-5
Order of finish: 4, 3, 1, 2, 5, 6