March 5, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After coming off a nice victory last weekend at Purdue, the Penn State men's tennis team (5-5, 1-1) ran into one of the nation's top teams in the third-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on Thursday. The Lions fell, 7-0, to a very talented Buckeye squad.
Ohio came out and won all three doubles matches to clinch the doubles point. From there, the Buckeyes carried the momentum and won all singles matches in two sets.
In doubles action, sophomores Benji Kendall (Villanova, Pa.) and Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) took on Ohio State's Matt Allare and Balazs Novak in the No. 3 matchup. The Buckeye tandem led 4-1 early, and held on to secure an 8-3 victory.
In the No. 1 paring, senior Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) and freshman Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) faced Ohio State's Steven Moneke and Justin Kronauge. Slagter and Lee kept it close with the Buckeyes and had the match tied at seven. However, Ohio State took the final two games to win the match and clinch the doubles point. Ohio State led, 1-0.
With the doubles point already decided, the 80th-ranked Lion pairing of senior Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.) and junior Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) faced the Buckeyes' Shuei Uzawa and Bryan Koniecko in the No. 2 bout. Lynch and St-Maurice had an opportunity to put away the Buckeye tandem, as they led 7-5. But Ohio State rallied back winning the final four games to win the match, 9-7.
With Ohio State leading 1-0, the match turned to singles action. Featuring the Nittany Lions in the No. 3 bout was Bourchier. The sophomore faced Kronauge, who is ranked 20th nationally. Kronauge downed Bourchier in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1. Ohio State led 2-0.
In the No. 1 matchup, Lynch faced the sixth-ranked Koniecko. Koniecko took the first set, 6-4. In the second set, Lynch jumped out to an early 2-1 lead. Koniecko stormed back though to win the set and the match, 6-4, 6-3. Ohio State had a 3-0 lead.
Ohio State clinched the match in the No. 4 bout, as Allare knocked off Lee in straight sets, 7-6 (3), 6-2. Lee held a 6-5 lead on Allare in the first set, but couldn't hang on as Allare won the tiebreaker to take the first set. From there, the Ohio State product breezed through the second set.
With the match already determined, Slagter lost a tough match to the fourth-ranked Moneke, 6-1, 7-6 (4). After a tough first set, Slagter fought hard in the second match and held a 6-5 lead at one point. However, Moneke stayed alive, and won the tiebreaker, 7-4, to take the second set and the match.
In other singles action, St-Maurice fell to Novak, 6-1, 6-1, while Kendall was downed by Uzawa, 6-3, 6-0.
The Nittany Lions will head to No. 74 Maryland this coming Sunday, with first serve at noon. Following Sunday's action, Penn State travels to No. x William & Mary on March 13.
Final Score: #3 Ohio State 7 def. Penn State 0
Doubles
1. Steven Moneke/Justin Kronauge (OSU) def. Adam Slagter/Jason Lee (PSU), 8-6
2. Shuei Uzawa/Bryan Koniecko (OSU) def. #80 Guillaume St.-Maurice/Brendan Lynch (PSU), 9-7
3. Matt Allare/Balazs Novak (OSU) def. Benji Kendall/Eddie Bourchier (PSU), 8-3
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. #6 Bryan Koniecko (OSU) def. Brendan Lynch (PSU), 6-4, 6-3
2. #4 Steven Moneke (OSU) def. Adam Slagter (PSU), 6-1, 7-6 (4)
3. #20 Justin Kronauge (OSU) def. Eddie Bourchier (PSU), 6-0, 6-1
4. Matt Allare (OSU) def. Jason Lee (PSU), 7-6 (3), 6-2
5. #71 Balazs Novak (OSU) def. Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU), 6-1, 6-1
6. #100 Shuhei Uzawa (OSU) def. Benji Kendall (PSU), 6-3, 6-0
Order of finish: 3, 1, 4, 2, 5, 6