March 29, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Following a difficult 5-2 setback to No. 28 Minnesota on Friday, the Penn State men's tennis team clipped the 52nd-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes, 4-3, on Sunday at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center. The Nittany Lions improve to 9-8 on the season with a 2-2 record in Big Ten play.
Penn State kicked off the match with an early 1-0 lead after claiming the doubles point, winning two of the three doubles matches. The Lions then claimed the first two singles matches before Iowa stormed back to give Penn State a scare. However, junior Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) won in a nice three-set victory to clinch the match for Penn State.
In doubles action, senior Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.) and junior Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) teamed up and faced Iowa's Greg Holm and Patrick Dwyer. Lynch and St-Maurice dominated the match jumping out to a 7-2 lead. Following Iowa gaining a game point, the Nittany Lion tandem won the eighth game to win the match, 8-3. Lynch and St-Maurice improved to 11-3 on the year as a doubles team.
The doubles point was clinched when senior Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) and freshman Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) faced Iowa's 55th-ranked pairing of Christian Bierich and Nikita Zotov. Slagter and Lee held a 7-4 lead through the first 11 games. After the Hawkeys won the next game to make it 7-5, the Lion tandem won the following game to win the match, 8-5, and clinched the doubles point for Penn State.
With the doubles point already decided, Gormley and sophomore Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) lost a tough match to Iowa's Tommy McGeorge and Will Vasos, 8-7 (7). Bourchier and Gormley held a 7-4 lead, but the Hawkeyes stormed back to tie the match and then won the tiebreaker. McGeorge and Vasos improve to an impressive 13-0 as a doubles pairing this season.
With Penn State leading 1-0, the match moved to singles action. Featured in the No. 2 bout was the matchup of Slagter and Zotov. Slagter took the first set from Zotov, 6-4. In the second set, Slagter jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Zotov tied it back up. However, Slagter won the final four games to clinch his match and earn a point for Penn State.
In the No. 4 bout, Bourchier defeated Vasos, 6-4, 7-6 (4). The Nittany Lion sophomore held the lead for the majority of the first set. In the second set, Bourchier found himself down, 6-5. However, he battled back to tie it at six and then won the tiebreaker, 7-4 to win his match. With Bourchier's victory, Penn State had an early 3-0 advantage over Iowa.
The No. 1 matchup featured Lynch and Bierich. In the first set of their match, Lynch jumped out to an early 4-2 lead. From there, he won two of the next three games to win the first set, 6-3. However, Bierich would take advantage of the final two sets. In the second stanza, Bierich jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on Lynch, and eventually won the second set, 6-3. The two battled early in the third set, and found themselves tied up at one. Bierich though went on to win the next four games to give him a 5-1 lead in the final frame. After Lynch took the next game, Bierich claimed the sixth game to earn the three-set victory. Iowa trailed Penn State, 3-1.
Lee faced Haal on Court No. 3. With the two tied at three in the middle of the first set, Lee ran away with the final three games to take the one set advantage. Haal returned the favor in the second set, where the two were tied at three again. The Hawkeye did his part in winning the final three games to capture the second set. From there, Haal had the momentum heading into the third set. Lee held a 5-4 lead in the final frame, but lost the final three games to give Haal the victory, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. Iowa cut Penn State's lead to one, with the score being 3-2.
In Gormley's clinching match, the junior jumped out to an early one set advantage over Dwyer after winning the frame, 6-1. However, Dwyer came back in the second set and held a 5-1 lead. Gormley would win the next two games, but that would be it as Dwyer won the second set, 6-3. Gormley burned Dwyer's momentum though in the third set, as he won the set in dominating fashion, 6-0. With the win, Gormley clinched the match for Penn State.
With the match already decided, St-Maurice faced McGeorge. St-Maurice breezed through the first set, 6-0. However, Mc George went on to win the final two sets, 6-4, 6-2 to win the match.
Penn State will head to the state of Michigan next weekend for another pair of crucial Big Ten matches. On April 4, the Nittany Lions will take on the Michigan Wolverines. On April 5, Penn State will travel to East Lansing to face the Michigan State Spartans. Both serve times are set for noon.
Final Score: #53 Penn State 4 def. #52 Iowa 3
Doubles
1. Adam Slagter/Jason Lee (PSU) def. #55 Christian Bierich/Nikita Zotov (Iowa), 8-5
2. Brendan Lynch/Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) def. Greg Holm/Patrick Dwyer, 8-3
3. Tommy McGeorge/Will Vasos (Iowa) def. Eddie Bourchier/Ryan Gormley (PSU), 8-7 (7)
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
1. Christian Bierich (Iowa) def. Brendan Lynch (PSU), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
2. Adam Slagter (PSU) def. Nikita Zotov (Iowa), 6-4, 6-2
3. Reinoud Haal (Iowa) def. Jason Lee (PSU), 36, 6-3, 7-5
4. Eddie Bourchier (PSU) def. Will Vasos (Iowa), 6-4, 7-6 (4)
5. Tommy McGeorge (Iowa) def. Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU), 0-6, 6-4, 6-2
6. Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. Patrick Dwyer (Iowa), 6-1, 3-6, 6-0
Order of finish: 2, 4, 1, 2, 6, 5