April 2, 2010
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The 58th-ranked Penn State men's tennis team (12-5, 1-2) suffered a 6-1 loss to the No. 44 Minnesota Golden Gophers on Friday. Penn State travels to No. 73 Iowa on Sunday for an 11 a.m. start vs. the Hawkeyes.
Minnesota won two of the three doubles bouts to gain a 1-0 advantage early in the match. From there, the Gophers won five of the six singles matches to earn a 6-1 victory. Three of the singles matches went to three sets.
On court No. 3, senior Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) and freshman Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) were downed by Minnesota's Dino Bilankov and Julian Dehn, 8-1. Minnesota then clinched the match in the No. 1 bout. Freshman Warren Hardie (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) and sophomore Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) teamed up for the second time this year and faced Minneosta's 27th-ranked pairing of Phillip Arndt and Sebastian Gallego. In what was a very tight match, the two pairings headed into a tiebreaker tied at eight. With the Nittany Lion tandem jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the tiebreaker, Arndt and Gallego rallied back to win the point, 7-4, to clinch the doubles point.
With the doubles point already decided, junior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) paired with senior Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) and faced Rok Bonin and Tobias Wernet in the No. 2 matchup. With the match tied at five, Bourchier and St-Maurice went on to win the final three games to garner an 8-5 victory.
With Minnesota leading 1-0, the match moved to singles action. On court No. 3, Bonin picked up a three-set 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Lee to give the Gophers a 2-0 lead in the overall match. In the No. 6 matchup, Brendan Ruddock defeated St-Maurice in three sets as well, to give the Gophers a 3-0 advantage in the overall match.
Penn State got on the board in the No. 1 bout soon after, as Bourchier upset the 66th-ranked player in the country in Gallego, 6-4, 6-2. The win for Bourchier gives him his second victory over a ranked opponent this season.
The match was then clinched on court No. 4, where Hardie had a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Bilankov. With the match already decided, No. 105 Wernet picked up a three-set victory over Gormley, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. The overall match came to an end, when Arndt defeated Welnetz in three sets, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-3.
Following the match with Iowa, the Nittany Lions will return to Happy Valley on April 9 to begin a five-match homestand with Michigan. Penn State will then square off with Michigan State and Bloomsburg on April 11. Admission to all Penn State tennis matches is free.
Final Score: #44 Minnesota 6 #58 Penn State 1
Doubles
1. #27 Phillip Arndt/Sebastian Gallego (MINN) def. Warren Hardie/Jason Lee (PSU), 9-8 (7-4)
2. Eddie Bourchier/Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) def. Rok Bonin/Tobias Wernet (MINN), 8-5
3. Dino Bilankov/Julian Dehn (MINN) def. Ryan Gormley/Bryan Welnetz (PSU), 8-1
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. Eddie Bourchier (PSU) def. #66 Sebastian Gallego (MINN), 6-4, 6-2
2. #105 Tobias Wernet (MINN) def. Ryan Gormley (PSU), 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
3. Rok Bonin (MINN) def. Jason Lee (PSU), 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
4. Dino Bilankov (MINN) def. Warren Hardie (PSU), 6-3, 6-2
5. Phillip Arndt (MINN) def. Bryan Welnetz (PSU), 6-1, 7-6 (3)
6. Brendan Ruddock (MINN) def. Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU), 6-1, 6-7 (7-3), 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 6, 1, 4, 2, 5