March 21, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - In its final day of play in the consolation bracket at the Blue-Gray Tennis Classic at Alabama, the Penn State men's tennis team was downed by the 43rd-ranked Fresno State Bulldogs, 4-0. With the loss, Penn State finishes the weekend 1-2 at the tournament with its win coming over No. 52 Virginia Commonwealth on Friday.
Fresno State played aggressively in a match that the Nittany Lions found difficult to overcome. In doubles action, the Bulldogs captured the first two doubles matches to capture the doubles point. From there, Fresno State was dominant as it captured the first three singles matches to clinch the match.
In doubles action, junior Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) and sophomore Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) faced Fresno State's Remi Boutillier and Rikus de Villiers. The Bulldog tandem jumped out to an early 6-1 lead in the match. Gormley and Bourchier came back however to win three of the nest four matches to cut Fresno State's lead to 7-5. However, Boutillier and Devilliers won the next game to capture the match, 8-5.
In the No. 1 doubles bout, senior Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) and freshman Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) jumped out to 2-1 and 5-4 leads early in their match against Mirko Zapletal and Rudolf Siwy. However, the Fresno State pairing stormed back taking four of the next five games to win the match. With the victory, Fresno State clinched the doubles point. Senior Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.) and junior Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) had their match come to an end after the doubles point was clinched. The Nittany Lion duo was leading 6-3 over Tejesvi Veerepalli and Taylor Leiby when the match ended.
With Fresno State leading 1-0, the match moved to singles action. In the No. 1 bout, Lynch was downed by Siwy in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. Lynch found himself down 4-1 early in the first set and never caught up. From there, Siwy carried his momentum over to win the second set to clinch his match and give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.
In the thr No. 4 matchup, Bourchier struggled, losing in straight sets to Boutillier, 6-1, 6-0. Bourchier was tied with Boutillier, 1-1, early in the first set, but that is the closest he came for the match. Fresno State led 3-0.
The clinching match came in the No. 5 matchup between Gormley and Veerepalli. Veerepalli had an early 2-1 lead on Gormley in the first set. However, Veerepalli went on to win four of the next six games to win the set, 6-4. In the second set, Gormley trailed 3-2 early, lost three of the next five to fall to the Fresno State opponent. With Veerepalli's win, Fresno State won the match, 4-0.
With the match already decided, St-Maurice was the only Nittany Lion player to have a lead at the conclusion of play. The junior had won the first set, 7-5 over Siddharth Alapati, and was tied 1-1 in the second set when the match ended.
The Nittany Lions return to University Park on March 27 at 3 p.m. as they take on the 37th-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers. Penn State will finish off its key weekend on March 29 as it faces No. 67 Iowa at 11 a.m.
Final Score: #42 Fresno State 4 #55 Penn State 0
Doubles
1. Mirko Zapletal/Rudolf Siwy (FSU) def. Adam Slagter/Jason Lee (PSU), 8-6
2. Remi Boutillier/Rikus de Villiers (FSU) def. Eddie Bourchier/Ryan Gormley (PSU), 8-5
3. Brendan Lynch/Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) led Tejesvi Veerepalli/Taylor Leiby (FSU), 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 1
Singles
1. Rudolf Siwy (FSU) def. Brendan Lynch (PSU), 6-2, 6-1
2. Mirko Zapletal (FSU) led Adam Slagter (PSU), 6-4, 3-4
3. Rikus de Villiers (FSU) led Jason Lee (PSU), 7-6, 0-1
4. Remi Boutillier (FSU) def. Eddie Bourchier (PSU), 6-1, 6-0
5. Tejesvi Veerepalli (FSU) def. Ryan Gormley (PSU), 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
6. Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) led Siddharth Alapati (FSU), 7-5, 1-1
Order of finish: 1, 4, 5