Nov. 1, 2009
EAST LANSING, Mich. - With one day remaining at the Big Ten Indoors Tournament, the Penn State men's tennis team has one player that remains alive. Sophomore Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) will play in Monday's semifinals of the singles draw after picking up two wins on Sunday.
Lee began his day with a 6-1, 6-0 pounding of Wisconsin's Luke Rassow-Kantor in the round of 16. He then picked up a straight-set victory over Wisconsin's Chris Freeman, 7-6 (4), 7-5, to advance to the semifinals. Lee, who holds a team-best 8-2 record in singles action this fall, will face Indiana's Josh MacTaggart on Monday in the semifinals. The finals are slated for noon on Monday.
In other singles action, junior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) went 1-1 on the day, making it to the quarterfinals. Bourchier defeated Northwestern's Eric Spector in the round of 16, 6-3, 6-4. His strong weekend came to an end though in the quarterfinals, as he was downed by Indiana's Santiago Gruter, 6-3, 6-3.
Senior Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.), who was another Lion that had a strong weekend, had a difficult 6-4, 6-3 loss to Chris Madden of Michigan in the round of 16.
In the back draw, Penn State picked up two victories. Freshmen Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) earned a victory in the second round over Purdue's Matt Manasse, 6-0, 6-1. Welnetz would fall short in the third round though, as he lost to Northwestern's Mark Schanerman, 6-1, 6-4.
Penn State's other back draw victory came in the second round as well with freshman C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich.) picking up a 6-3, 3-6, 10-4 victory over Michigan State's Clark Richardson. Griffin would eventually fall to Northwestern's Alex Sandborn in the third round, 6-0, 5-6, 10-4.
Semifinals and finals action of the Big Ten Indoors will conclude on Monday. Penn State will begin dual match play on Jan. 24 with a doubleheader matchup at home with Princeton and Lehigh.
Singles Draw
Round 3: Chris Madden (Mich.) def. Ryan Gormley (PSU), 6-3, 6-3
Round 3: Eddie Bourchier (PSU) def. Eric Spector (NW), 6-3, 6-4
Round 3: Jason Lee (PSU) def. Luke Rassow-Kantor (Wis.), 6-1, 6-0
Quarterfinals: Santiago Gruter (Ind.) def. Eddie Bourchier (PSU), 6-3, 6-3
Quarterfinals: Jason Lee (PSU) def. Chris Freeman (Wisc.), 7-6 (4), 7-5
Singles Back Draw
Round 2: Bryan Welnetz (PSU) def. Matt Manasse (Pur.), 6-0, 6-1
Round 2: Julian Dehn (Minn.) def. Taylor Cohen (PSU), 6-4, 6-2
Round 2: Alex Sanborn (NW) def. Warren Hardie (PSU), 5-6, 7-6 (5), 10-4
Round 2: C.J. Griffin (PSU) def. Clark Richardson (MSU), 6-3, 3-6, 10-4
Round 2: Andrew McCarthy (NW) def. Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU), 6-7 (3), 6-2, 10-8
Round 3: Mark Schanerman (NW) def. Bryan Welnetz (PSU), 6-1, 6-4
Round 3: Alex Sanborn (NW) def. C.J. Griffin (PSU), 6-0, 4-6, 10-3