March 13, 2009
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - After coming off a 7-0 convincing victory over Maryland last Sunday, the Penn State men's tennis team carried over its momentum on Friday, as the Nittany Lions upset the 49th-ranked William and Mary Tribe, 4-3. Penn State improves to 7-5 on the season.
Penn State came out and won all three doubles matches to clinch the doubles point. From there, the Lions played steadily, winning three singles matches to win the match, 4-3.
In doubles action, the 80th-ranked Lion pairing of senior Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.) and junior Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) kicked off doubles action with a victory over Dominic Pagon and Marwan Ramadon, 8-4. From there, the match was clinched when sophomore Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) and junior Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) downed Ilja Orre and Varun Pandit, 8-4, in the No. 2 bout. Penn State led the match, 1-0.
With the doubles point already clinched, senior Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) and freshman Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) faced off with Keziel Juneau and Sebastien Vidal in the No. 1 bout. Lee and Slagter downed the Tribe tandem, 8-6 to win the match.
With Penn State leading 1-0, the match moved to singles action. In the No. 2 bout, Slagter faced Ramadan. Slagter ran away in the first set, 6-0. The second set was much closer, but the Nittany Lion senior captain held on for a 7-5 set victory to take the match. Penn State had a 2-0 lead.
In the No. 6 matchup, sophomore Benji Kendall (Villanova, Pa.) took on Pundit, Pundit stole the match from Kendall in straight sets, 7-6 (4), 6-4. William and Mary cut the match to 2-1 in favor of Penn State. Moving to the No. 4 pairing, Bourchier gained back some momentum for Penn State as he defeated Pagon in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. Penn State had a 3-1 lead on the Tribe.
St-Maurice took on Orre in the No. 5 bout. The junior had no problem with Orre, as he won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. With St-Maurice's victory, Penn State clinched the match.
In other singles action, Lynch was downed by Juneau in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, while Lee lost to Vidal, 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-5).
The 66th-ranked Nittany Lions will head to Alabama next weekend for the Blue-Gray Tournament. Penn State will return home on March 27 as it takes on the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Final Score: #66 Penn State 4 def. #49 William and Mary 3
Singles
No. 1 - Keziel Juneau (W&M) def. Brendan Lynch (PSU) - 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
No. 2 - Adam Slagter (PSU) def. Marwan Ramadan (W&M) - 6-0, 7-5
No. 3 - Sebastien Vidal (W&M) def. Jason Lee (PSU) - 4-6, 7-5, 10-5
No. 4 - Eddie Bourchier (PSU) def. Dominic Pagon (W&M) - 6-2, 6-4
No. 5 - Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) def. Ilja Orre (W&M) - 6-2, 6-4
No. 6 - Varun Pandit (W&M) def. Benji Kendal (PSU) - 7-6 (4), 6-4
Finishing Order: 2, 6, 4, 5, 3, 1
Doubles
No. 1 - Lee/Slagter (PSU) def. Juneau/Vidal (W&M) - 8-6
No. 2 - Gormley/Bourchier (PSU) def. Orre/Pandit (W&M) - 8-4
No. 3 - #80 Lynch/St-Maurice (PSU) def. Pagon/Ramadan (W&M) - 8-4
Finishing Order: 3, 2, 1