Feb. 28, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team (9-1, 0-0) tallied a 7-0 sweep over the Lafayette Leopards on Sunday at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center. The Nittany Lions finish the weekend with a 2-0 record and will open up Big Ten play next weekend.
Penn State won all three doubles matches to garner the doubles point and gain an early 1-0 advantage. From there, the Lions notched six singles victories to complete the 7-0 victory over Lafayette.
The Nittany Lions got an early edge in doubles competition on court No. 3 when senior captain Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) and freshman Warren Hardie (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) picked up an 8-0 sweep over Lafayette's Andrew Morris and James Murphy. The doubles point was then clinched in the No. 2 bout where senior Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) and sophomore Taylor Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.) took on the Leopards' Justin Haar and Scott Gelbman. Haar and Gelbman had an early 1-0 lead, but St-Maurice and Cohen won eight of the final nine games to win the match, 8-2.
With the doubles point already decided, junior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) and sophomore Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) teamed up against Lafayette's Eric Wiley and Doug Gallagher. Lee and Bourchier faced deficits of 2-1 and 3-2 in the match, but were eventually able to come back and capture an 8-4 victory.
With Penn State leading 1-0, the match moved on to singles action. In the No. 2 bout, Lee gave the Nittany Lions a 2-0 lead in the overall match when he downed Steven Benezra in straight-sets, 6-1, 6-0. Over on court No. 3, freshman Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) picked up a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Lafayette's Doug Gallagher. Penn State had a 3-0 lead on the Leopards.
The match was clinched in the No. 4 bout where St-Maurice clipped Haar in 6-2, 6-1 victory. With the match already decided, Gormley took on Wiley in the No. 1 bout. In the first set, Gormley fell behind early, 3-2. The Las Vegas native rallied though to win the set, 6-3. From there, Gormley never trailed in the second set to notch a 6-4 victory to clinch his match.
In the No. 5 matchup, Cohen saw his first singles action of the weekend and tallied a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Gelbman. Freshman C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich.) finished off the day with 6-0, 6-1 win over Murphy, totaling the score to 7-0 in favor of Penn State.
Penn State opens Big Ten season on March 7 with an 11 a.m. match up with Purdue at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center. Admission to all Penn State home matches is free. The Nittany Lions will head down south on March 11 for a dual with Coastal Carolina.
Final Score: #52 Penn State 7 Lafayette 0
Doubles
1. Eddie Bourchier/Jason Lee (PSU) def. Eric Wiley/Doug Gallagher (Lafayette), 8-4
2. Guillaume St-Maurice/Taylor Cohen (PSU) def. Justin Haar/Scott Gelbman (Lafayette), 8-2
3. Ryan Gormley/Warren Hardie (PSU) def. Andrew Morris/James Murphy (Lafayette), 8-0
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1. Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. Eric Wiley (Lafayette), 6-3, 6-4
2. Jason Lee (PSU) def. Steven Benezra (Lafayette), 6-0, 6-1
3. Bryan Welnetz (PSU) def. Doug Gallagher (Lafayette), 6-0, 6-2
4. Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) def. Justin Haar (Lafayette), 6-2, 6-1
5. Taylor Cohen (PSU) def. Scott Gelbman (Lafayette), 6-1, 6-1
6. C.J. Griffin (PSU) def. James Murphy (Lafayette), 6-0-6-1
Order of finish: 2, 3, 4, 1, 5, 6