April 4, 2009
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Penn State men's tennis team got off to rough start this weekend with a 6-1 loss to the 47th-ranked Michigan Wolverines. Penn State drops to 9-9 and 2-3 in the Big Ten heading into tomorrow's matchup with the Michigan State Spartans.
Michigan started the match with a 1-0 lead after winning two of its three doubles matches to clinch the doubles point. From there, the Wolverines won five of the six singles matches to get the 6-1 victory over the Nittany Lions.
In doubles action, senior Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) and freshman Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) faced Michigan's 52nd-ranked pairing of Jason Jung and George Navas. Slagter and Lee had an early 2-1 advantage, but fell in seven of the final nine games to lose, 8-4. In the No. 3 bout, the Lions evened things up when junior Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) and sophomore Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) defeated Michigan's Peter Aarts and Mike Sroczynski, 8-6.
The doubles clinch point came at the No. 2 matchup, where senior Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.) and junior Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) were defeated by the Wolverine tandem of Chris Madden and Andrew Mazlin, 9-8 (4).
With Michigan leading 1-0, the match turned over to singles action. In the No. 2 bout, Jung defeated Slagter in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. Jung had an early 4-1 lead in the first set and never looked back. In the second set, Slagter never led Jung, and lost, 6-1. In the No. 6 bout, Gormley played Navas. Gormley took the first game in the first set, but lost six of the final eight games. Gormley struggled in the second set, losing 6-1.
The clinching match came on court No. 1 where Mazlin defeated Lynch in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. After falling in the first set, Lynch jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the second set. However, Mazin came back to win five of the final six to clinch the victory and the match for Michigan.
With the match already decided, Bourchier lost in straight sets to Madden, 6-3, 6-3 and St-Maurice lost in straight sets to Daniel, 7-5, 7-5.
Penn State's lone victory came in the No. 3 bout, where Lee defeated Sroczynski in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5). With Lee tied with Sroczynski at three in the first set, the freshman standout won the final three games to capture the first set. Following a tough set, Lee battled in the third set. With the pair tied up at five in the final frame, Lee jumped out to a 6-5 lead and was playing for the match point. However, Sroczynski marched back and forced a tiebreaker. Lee won the tiebreaker, 7-5.
Penn State will travel to East Lansing, Mich. tomorrow for a noon matchup with the Michigan State Spartans. Penn State will continue its road trip to Illinois and Indiana next weekend. Both match times are set for noon.
Final Score: #47 Michigan 6 def. #51 Penn State 1
Doubles
1. #51 Jason Jung/George Navas (Mich.) def. Adam Slagter/Jason Lee (PSU), 8-4
2. Chris Madden/Andrew Mazlin (Mich.) def. Brendan Lynch/Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU), 9-8 (5)
3. Eddie Bourchier/Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. Peter Aarts/Mike Sroczynski (Mich.), 8-6
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1. Andrew Mazlin (Mich.) def. Brendan Lynch (PSU), 6-3, 6-3
2. Jason Jung (Mich.) def. Adam Slagter (PSU), 6-2, 6-4
3. Jason Lee (PSU) def. Mike Sroczynski (Mich.), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5)
4. Chris Madden (Mich.) def. Eddie Bourchier (PSU), 6-3, 6-3
5. Drew Daniel (Mich.) def. Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU), 7-5, 7-5
6. George Navas (Mich.) def. Ryan Gormley (PSU), 6-3, 6-1
Order of finish: 2, 6, 1, 4, 5, 3