April 18, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - With one regular season match left, the Penn State men's tennis team (13-11, 4-5) will host the 44th-ranked Northwestern Wildcats on Senior Day, Sunday. Senior captains Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.) and Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) will play in their final home match of their stellar careers.
Lynch, who is majoring in finance, is 77-39 for his career in singles as a Nittany Lion. The 77 wins tie him for ninth in program history. With a win tomorrow, he can pass Jamie Gresh to move into tied for seventh all-time. During his junior year in 2007-08, Lynch had a career high for single wins in a season, posting an impressive 27 victories. The 27 wins in a season is tied for fifth in program history.
So far this season, Lynch sits at 11-12 in singles dual action, but most of his time has come in the No. 1 bout. On Friday vs. Wisconsin, he upset 28th-ranked Moritz Bauman, who was 22-0 heading into the match. Lynch also competed in the ITA All-American Championships this past fall, which featured some of the top players in the country.
Slagter made a nice return to the spring lineup this year after missing the fall with an ankle injury. The Texas native has 71 wins for his career in singles, and needs two to tie former teammate James Dwyer for 13th in program history. Slagter set a program record during the 2005-06 season when he notched 30 singles wins in a season, one that may never be broken. Additonally, the senior captain climbed up in the record books again yesterday when him and freshman teammate Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) upset Wisconsin's 19th-ranked doubles pairing of Moritz Bauman and Marek Michalicka. With the doubles win, Slagter moved into second place alone for most career doubles wins with 69.
Slagter, who is majoring in business, is 9-12 this season, with most of his action coming in the No. 1 and 2 bouts. He has teamed up with Lee to go 13-10 in doubles. The pairing is playing the best they have all season, winning their last four opponents. Additionally, they have three wins vs. top 40 doubles pairings.
Last Time Out
The Nittany Lions extended their win streak to three matches on Friday, after upsetting the 30th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers, 5-2. Penn State improved its record to 4-5 in the Big Ten.
The Nittany Lions dominated the match from the beginning, clinching the doubles point with victories in all three bouts. From there, Penn State won four of the six singles matches, en route to a 5-2 victory. The Lions are now 7-13 all-time vs. Wisconsin.
Scouting Northwestern
The 44th-ranked Wildcats head to Happy Valley winning four of its last five matches. Of those last four victories, two of them came against No. 30 Wisconsin and No. 33 Minnesota, winning both by a score of 4-3. Northwestern sits in fourth place in the Big Ten with a 5-4 conference record and 17-7 overall.
Marc Dwyer leads the way for Northwestern, with an 11-12 record and a ranking of 121st in the ITA. Dwyer has seen the majority of his time in the No. 1 bout, going 10-12. Joshua Graves leads the team in wins, sporting an 18-4 record. Alex Sanborn is 17-7 in singles. Andrew McCarthy and Alexander Thams lead the team with a 14-5 doubles record.
Penn State-Northwestern
Penn State is 4-15 all-time vs. Northwestern. The Nittany Lions have won the last three matches of the series, including a 7-0 clawing last year. Northwestern last defeated Penn State on April 3, 2005, in a close 4-3 win.
Next Up
The Nittany Lions will head to the Big Ten Championships next week, beginning play either April 23 or 24. Last season at the Big Ten Championship, Penn State was edged by Michigan, 4-2, in the quarterfinals. The Lions' best finish at the Big Ten Championship was back in 2006, when they finished tied for third.