Sept. 10, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- - The Penn State men's tennis team opens the fall season at University Park, Pa., this weekend on Sept. 12-14. The Nittany Lions will bring in some solid competition to PSU Fall Classic, including Alabama, N.C. State, Pepperdine and Princeton. In addition, Penn State will hold Alumni Weekend for this weekend's event.
"We are really excited to start our season at home this weekend," said head coach Todd Doebler. "This should be a great weekend of tennis with such prestigious programs coming. Additionally, it will be even more special because it will be Alumni Weekend."
The round-robin format competition kicks off on Friday with Penn State and Alabama players participating in singles and doubles at 9 a.m. At 1 p.m., N.C. State, Pepperdine and Princeton will hit the Sarni Tennis Center courts. On Saturday, Penn State, Princeton and Pepperdine will participate at 9 a.m., followed by N.C. State and Alabama at 1 p.m. On Sunday, all teams will be in action at 9 a.m.
The Nittany Lions welcome some strong competition into this year's event. Last season, Pepperdine finished No. 12 in the ITA Tennis Poll and earned them a berth into the NCAA Tournament. Alabama will look for revenge this year after the Nittany Lions upset the 21st-ranked Crimson Tide, 4-3 last March. As for Princeton, Penn State tamed the Tigers to capture the ECAC Championship crown, 5-2 last fall. N.C. State will come to University Park after finishing No. 53 in the ITA Poll.
Leading the way for Penn State will be senior captains Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.) and Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas). Last season, Lynch teamed up with Michael James in doubles action, where the pair ranked No.1 in the ITA Northeast Region and No. 33 in national doubles. In singles action, Lynch finished a combined 27-10. Slagter finished 14-11 last season in singles action and earned a No. 5 individual ranking in the ITA Northeast Region. Penn State is returning eight letterwinners from last season.
The Nittany Lions are looking to carry over last year's success into this season. Penn State notched its first NCAA Tournament victory in the modern era over No. 27 Virginia Commonwealth, 4-0 in the first round last May. They also earned a first-place ranking in the ITA Northeast region and a No. 39 ITA national ranking.
Following the PSU Fall Classic, Penn State will take a three-week break before heading to Atlanta, Ga. for the Georgia Tech Invitational on Oct. 3-5. The ITA Regionals will take place on Oct. 16-21 at New Haven, Conn.