April 19, 2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The No. 42-ranked Penn State men's tennis team (14-10, 5-4) suffered a 6-1 setback at the hands of No. 2 Ohio State (28-1, 9-0) on Saturday afternoon at the Ohio State Varsity Tennis Center.
The talented Buckeyes jumped out to a 1-0 lead after scoring a pair of doubles victories. Ohio State proceeded to score five straight-sets singles victories to oust the Nittany Lions. Senior James Dwyer (Peachtree City, Ga.) was the lone Lion to score a victory in the singles lineup. With the win, the Buckeyes clinched the 2008 Big Ten regular season crown.
The Buckeyes struck first in doubles action when 19th-ranked Steven Moneke and Bryan Koniecko ousted junior Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) and senior Chris Sherman (Edina, Minn.) by a score of 8-2.
Ohio State clinched the doubles point with an 8-6 victory in the No. 1 doubles match. The Buckeye team of Drew Eberly and Justin Kronauge, who are ranked 23rd in the nation knocked off Penn State's No. 1 doubles team of senior Michael James (Clifton, Va.) and junior Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.), who are ranked 14th in the nation, for just the second time this season. James and Lynch fall to 14-2 on the year in duals.
The Nittany Lion team of Dwyer and freshman Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) salvaged an 8-6 victory at No. 3 over Ohio State's Balazs Novak and Mike O'Connell. Dwyer and Bourchier improved to 6-3 in dual matches this spring.
With the Buckeyes up 1-0, the match turned to singles play. Ohio State carried its momentum right into the singles matches, as they went on to score the first five completed bouts in straight-sets. Kronauge, who is ranked 21st in the nation ousted Lynch by a score of 6-2, 6-1 to give the Buckeyes a 2-0 advantage. Lynch falls to 15-6 in duals this spring.
Koniecko, who is ranked 14th in the national singles rankings then knocked off James at No. 1 by a 6-2, 6-3 count to put Ohio State up 3-0. The Buckeyes clinched the match with a 6-3, 6-1 victory by 24th-ranked Moneke against Slagter at No. 2.
Ohio State remained dominant at the bottom of the lineup, as Bourchier fell to Eberly by a score of 6-3, 6-3 in the No. 5 bout. The loss snapped the Lion freshman's seven-match winning streak. Sophomore Guillaume St-Maurice (St-Eustache, Quebec) dropped a 6-1, 6-1 decision at the hands of Novak at No. 6, which gave the Buckeyes a 6-0 lead.
Nevertheless, Dwyer put Penn State on the board with a three-set triumph for the Nittany Lions. After claiming a first-set tiebreaker, Dwyer dropped a second-set breaker to Shuhei Uzawa, sending the match into a super-tiebreaker. Dwyer notched the breaker victory to claim the point for the Nittany Lions. The win marked Dwyer's ninth win in his last 11 outings. He is now 11-3 in duals this spring.
Penn State will finish off its regular on Sunday with a critical Big Ten road match. The Nittany Lions will take on 41st-ranked Indiana in Bloomington at noon. Penn State will then wait for the draw to be announced for Big Ten Championships slated for April 24-27 in Iowa City.
Final Score: #2 Ohio State 6, #42 Penn State 1
Doubles:
1. #23 Drew Eberly/Justin Kronauge (OSU) def. #14 Brendan Lynch/Michael James (PSU), 8-6
2. #19 Steven Moneke/Bryan Koniecko (OSU) def. Adam Slagter/Chris Sherman (PSU), 8-2
3. Eddie Bourchier/James Dwyer (PSU) def. Balazs Novak/Mike O'Connell (OSU), 8-6
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles:
1. #14 Bryan Koniecko (OSU) def. #63 Michael James (PSU), 6-2, 6-3
2. #24 Steven Moneke (OSU) def. Adam Slagter (PSU), 6-3, 6-1
3. #21 Justin Kronauge (OSU) def. Brendan Lynch (PSU), 6-2, 6-1
4. James Dwyer (PSU) def. Shuhei Uzawa (OSU), 7-6, 6-7, 1-0
5. Drew Eberly (OSU) def. Eddie Bourchier (PSU), 6-3, 6-3
6. Balazs Novak (OSU) def. Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU), 6-1, 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2, 5, 6, 4