March 19, 2009
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Coming off two big wins against ranked opponents, the 55th-ranked Penn State men's tennis team (7-6, 1-1) faced a tough 4-0 setback to the fourth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers on Thursday in the first round of the Blue-Gray Tennis Classic. With the loss, Penn State will play in the consolation bracket tomorrow against No. 54 Virginia Commonwealth.
The Volunteers got off to a great start winning their doubles matches in the No. 1 and No. 2 bouts over the Nittany Lions to capture the doubles point.
In doubles action, where senior Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) and freshman Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) faced Tennessee's John-Patrick Smith and Davey Sandgren. The Lion tandem played the Volunteers tough early, trailing 5-4. However, Tennessee took the final three game points to win the match, 8-4.
In the No. 2 doubles bout, junior Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) and sophomore Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) faced Boris Conkic and Matteo Fago. The Tennessee pairing dominated the Gormley and Bourchier to win the match, 8-2. The win clinched the doubles point for Tennessee. With the point clinched, senior Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.) and junior Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) had their match come to an end tied at five against Christopher Williams and Christian Hansen.
With Tennessee leading 1-0, the match moved to singles action. In the No. 1 singles bout, Lynch faced the 7th-ranked Smith. Lynch stayed close early as he trailed 2-1 in the first set. However, Smith won the final four games to take the first set. From there, the Tennessee standout breezed through the second set to win the match, 6-1, 6-0.
In the No. 3 matchup, Lee faced Fago. In the first set, Lee trailed 5-2 through the first seven sets and couldn't rally. In the second set, Fago knocked-off Lee to win the match, 6-2, 6-2. With Fago's victory, Penn State trailed 3-0.
The clinching match came in the No. 2 bout where Slagter lost to the 25th-ranked Conkic, 6-4, 6-2. Slagter played the match a lot closer than the score showed. In the first set, Slagter and Conkic where squared at three a piece. However, Conkic won three of the final four games to take the first set, 6-4. In the second set, Conkic carried his momentum over to win, 6-3, and clinch the match for Tennessee.
With the match ending at 4-0, three matches did not finish. Notably for Penn State, Gormley won his first set, 6-3, over Brewer. The Nittany Lion junior trailed Brewer in the second set when the match was clinched.
With the loss, the Nittany Lions will play a very hungry Virginia Commonwealth team Friday at 8:30 a.m. central time. Last year, Penn State upset the Rams in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 4-0. Depending on the result of Friday's match, the Lions could possibly face a rematch vs. William and Mary. Penn State beat William and Mary last Friday, 4-3.
Final Score: #5 Tennessee 4 def. #55 Penn State 0
Doubles
1. #8 John-Patrick Smith/Davey Sandgren (Tenn.) def. Adam Slagter/Jason Lee (PSU), 8-4
2. Boris Conkic/Matteo Fago (Tenn.) def. Eddie Bourchier/Ryan Gormley (PSU), 8-2
3. Brendan Lynch/Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) vs. Christopher Williams/Christian (Tenn.), 5-5 (DNF)
Order of finish: 1, 2
Singles
1. #7 John-Patrick Smith (Tenn.) def. Brendan Lynch (PSU), 6-1, 6-0
2. #25 Boris Conkic (Tenn.) def. Adam Slagter (PSU)), 6-4, 6-3
3. Matteo Fago (Ten.) def. Jason Lee (PSU), 6-2, 6-2
4. Sandgren (Tenn.) led Eddie Bourchier (PSU) 6-3, 3-2
5. Ryan Gormley (PSU) led. Brewer (Tenn.), 6-3, 0-1
6. Hansen (Tenn.) led Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU), 6-3, 1-2
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2