Jan. 11, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team will open the 2010 spring season ranked 54th in the ITA Men's National Team Rankings. The Nittany Lions are coming off last season where they finished at 55th in the rankings.
Additionally, junior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) will open the season slated at 14th in the Atlantic Region singles rankings. Bourchier also made the doubles rankings as he and sophomore Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) open the season at fifth in the Atlantic region. Also, freshman Warren Hardie (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) and senior Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) are ranked ninth in the region.
The Nittany Lions have another strong schedule this season, facing eight opponents are ranked in the ITA Top 75 computer preseason rankings. Penn State is scheduled to take on the third-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on March 28 in Columbus. The Lions will host the No. 15 Illinois Fighting Illini on April 16. Last season, the Illini finished No. 12 in the final ITA rankings.
Penn State will participate in two regular season tournaments this year. The ITA Team Indoor Qualifiers are slated for Jan. 30 at the home of Florida Gators in Gainesville. Last season, Penn State hosted the ITA Team Indoor Qualifiers on the University Park campus. The Lions will make another appearance at the annual Blue-Gray Tournament in Montgomery, Ala. on Mar. 18-21. Penn State faired well at the tournament last year, picking up a nice 4-2 victory over No. 52 Virginia Commonwealth.
The Nittany Lions just completed their fall season, going a combined 41-33 in singles action and 26-9 in doubles action. Penn State recently had a strong showing at the Big Ten Indoors. Lee and Bourchier won the Flight "A" doubles bracket while senior Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint Eustache, Quebec) and sophomore Taylor Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.) won the Flight "B" doubles bracket. Lee reached the semifinals in singles action.
Penn State opens the 2010 dual match slate with a doubleheader at home against Princeton and Lehigh. The Big Ten Conference season opens up on March 7 as the Lions will take on Purdue at home for an 11 a.m. match-up.