March 7, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The 42nd-ranked Penn State men's tennis team (10-1, 1-0) opened Big Ten play on Sunday with a 6-1 victory over the No. 65 Purdue Boilermakers at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center. The Nittany Lions have won eight consecutive matches with two of the wins coming against ranked opponents.
Penn State came out and grabbed the doubles point, winning all three matches. Two of the doubles matches were decided by two points. From there, the Lions went on to win five of the six singles bouts to secure a 6-1 victory.
The Nittany Lions took an early advantage in doubles competition on court No. 2 when senior Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) and freshman Warren Hardie (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) faced Purdue's P.J. Rose and Thomas Wilson. The Nittany Lion tandem got off to a great start as they led 3-0. Purdue threatened by winning two of the next three games, but Gormley and Hardie were able to hold them off in an 8-4 decision.
In the No. 1 bout, junior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) and sophomore Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) teamed up against Purdue's Branko Kuzmanovic and Slavko Bijelica. Bourchier and Lee held a 4-1 lead through the first five games, but Kuzmanovic and Bijelica rallied to tie it back up at four. The two tandems went on to exchange the next four points, resulting in a 6-6 score through 12 games. Lee and Bourchier finished strong though by winning the next two games and ending in an 8-6 victory. With Bourchier and Lee's victory, Penn State clinched the doubles point.
With the doubles point already decided, senior Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) and sophomore Taylor Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.) faced Purdue's Eric Ramos and Paul Foley. The match went back and forth, as there were seven ties and four lead changes. With the match tied at seven though, St-Maurice and Cohen won the final two games to garner the 9-7 victory.
With Penn State leading 1-0, the match moved to singles action. On court No. 2, Gormley picked up a straight-set 6-2, 6-4 victory over Rose to give the Nittany Lions a 2-0 lead in the overall match. With the victory, Gormley improves to 6-4 on the season and 3-1 when playing in the No. 2 position.
In the No. 1 matchup, Bourchier took on Bijelica. With the first set tied at five, Bourchier won the final two games to go up a set. In the second stanza, the two were tied up at three. Bourchier went on another run, taking the final three games to earn a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Bijelica. With the victory, Bourchier improved to a perfect 9-0 for the 2010 season. Penn State had a 3-0 lead.
Penn State clinched the match in the No. 4 bout, where Hardie took on the Boilermakers' Ramos. In the first set, Hardie jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Ramos was able to cut Hardie's lead to 3-2, but the Penn State freshman went on to win three of the final four games to capture the first frame. Ramos then forced a third set by winning the second set, 7-5. In the third set, Ramos had a 2-0 lead. However, Hardie won the final six games to win his second consecutive three-set match.
With the match already decided, freshman Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) earned his team-leading 10th victory of the season as he downed Foley, 6-3, 6-1. St-Maurice picked up a straight-set 6-1, 6-3 victory over Thomas Wilson in the No. 6 to win his seventh consecutive match. The overall match came to an end in the No. 3 bout, where Kuzmanovic defeated Lee in three sets, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
The Nittany Lions will head down south on March 11 for a dual with Coastal Carolina. Penn State will then travel to Montgomery, Ala. on March 18 for the Blue-Gray Tournament, featuring some of the top teams in the country.
Final Score: #42 Penn State 6 #65 Purdue 1
Doubles
1. Eddie Bourchier/Jason Lee (PSU) def. Branko Kuzmanovic/Slavko Bijelica (Purdue), 8-6
2. Ryan Gormley/Warren Hardie (PSU) def. P.J. Rose/Thomas Wilson (Purdue), 8-4
3. Guillaume St-Maurice/Taylor Cohen (PSU) def. Eric Ramos/Paul Foley (Purdue), 9-7
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
1. Eddie Bourchier (PSU) def. Slavko Bijelica (Purdue), 7-5, 6-3
2. Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. P.J. Rose (Purdue), 6-2, 6-4
3. Branko Kuzmanovic (Purdue) def. Jason Lee (PSU), 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
4. Warren Hardie (PSU) def. Eric Ramos (Purdue), 6-3, 5-7, 6-2
5. Bryan Welnetz (PSU) def. Paul Foley (Purdue), 6-3, 6-1
6. Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) def. Thomas Wilson (Purdue), 6-1, 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 1, 4, 5, 6, 3