April 11, 2009
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - With a lot at stake beginning this weekend, the Penn State men's tennis team dropped a 7-0 match to the 11th-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini. Penn State drops to 10-10 overall and 3-4 in the Big Ten. Junior Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) and sophomore Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) earned a doubles match victory for the Lions.
Illinois came out and won the doubles point early winning its first two doubles matches in the No. 1 and 2 bouts. The Illini dominated singles competition as well, winning all six matches. With the match already decided, two of the matches went to a third set tiebreaker.
In doubles action, senior Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) and freshman Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) were downed by the 49th-ranked doubles pairing of Marek Czerwinski and Marc Spicijaric, 8-4. Slagter and Lee trailed only 5-4, but Illinois won the final three games to give the Illini an early edge. From there, the doubles point was clinched when No. 18 Dennis Nevolo and Ruan Roelofse defeated senior Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.) and junior Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint-Eustache, Quebec), 8-5. The Illini pairing never trailed in the match.
With the doubles point decided, Gormley and Bourchier earned a nice 8-4 victory over Waylon Chin and Brian Livingston. The Nittany Lion tandem held a 5-3 lead early, and never looked back. Gormley and Bourchier improve to 10-7 as a doubles pair this season.
With Illinois leading 1-0, the match moved to singles competition. In the No. 6 bout, Gormley had a tough day as he lost in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0, to Abe Souza. On court No. 3, Lee had his two match win streak come to an end as he was downed by Illinois' 42nd-ranked Roy Kalmanovich, 6-1, 6-1. Illinois had a 3-0 lead.
Lynch faced the 79th-ranked Spicijaric in the No. 1 matchup. After losing 6-0 in the first set, Lynch jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second set. However, Spicijaric won the final six games to win his match, and clinch the overall match for Illinois. Illinois was up 4-0.
With the match already decided, Slagter had a difficult 6-0, 6-2 setback to No. 39 Nevolo. Bourchier and St-Maurice made their matches interesting, in hope of getting two points for the Nittany Lions. In Bourchier's match with Chin, the sophomore dropped his first set, 6-4. However, Bourchier stormed back and dominated the second set, 6-2. Since the match was already clinched by Illinois, the third set was played as a ten point tiebreaker. Bourchier lost 10-6.
In St-Maurice's match with Czerwinski, the Illinois product won the first set, 6-4. St-Maurice countered back in the second set, winning 6-2. However, the Quebec native was just nipped, 10-8 in the tiebreaker, making the final score of the match 7-0.
Penn State heads to Bloomington, Ind. tomorrow with an important match with the 53rd-ranked Indiana Hoosiers. First serve is set for noon.
Final Score: #11 Illinois 7 def. #61 Penn State 0
Doubles
1. #49 Marek Czerwinski/Marc Spicijaric (Ill.) def. Jason Lee/Adam Slagter (PSU), 8-4
2. #18 Dennis Nevolo/Ruan Roelofse (Ill.) def. Brendon Lynch/Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU), 8-5
3. Eddie Bourchier/Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. Waylon Chin/Brian Livingston (Ill.), 8-4
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
1. #79 Marc Spicijaric (Ill.) def. Brendon Lynch (PSU), 6-0, 6-1
2. #39 Dennis Nevolo (Ill.) def. Adam Slagter (PSU), 6-0, 6-2
3. #42 Roy Kalmanovich (Ill.) def. Jason Lee (PSU), 6-1, 6-1
4. Waylon Chin (Ill.) def. Eddie Bouchier (PSU), 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (10-6)
5. Marek Czerwinski (Ill.) def. Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU), 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (10-8)
6. Abe Souza (Ill.) def. Ryan Gormley (PSU), 6-1, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 3, 1, 2, 4, 5