April 18, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The 61st-ranked Penn State men's tennis team (14-9, 2-6) suffered a 5-2 loss to the No. 41 Indiana Hoosiers on Sunday. Senior Ryan Gormley (Las Vegas, Nev.) earned a singles victory in his final home match of his successful Penn State career.
Indiana won all three doubles bouts to gain a 1-0 advantage early in the match. From there, the Gophers won four of the six singles matches to earn a 5-2 victory. Gormley and sophomore Taylor Cohen (Philadelphia, PA.) earned victories for the Nittany Lions.
On doubles court No. 2, freshman Warren Hardie (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) and sophomore Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) had an 8-2 setback to Indiana's Santiago Gruter and Jeremy Langer. The doubles point was then clinched in the No. 3 bout, when Gormley and Cohen were downed by Alexander van Gils and Isade Juneau in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-4). With the doubles point already decided, Lachlan Ferguson and Josh MacTaggart defeated junior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) and senior Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) in the No. 1 matchup, 9-8 (7-5).
With Indiana leading 1-0, the match moved to singles action. On court No. 3, Gruter picked up 6-1, 6-2 victory over Lee to give the Hoosiers a 2-0 lead in the overall match. In the No. 6 matchup, Cohen earned a solid 6-1, 6-4 win over Maxime Armengaud. Cohen's victory cut Indiana's lead to 2-1.
Indiana increased its lead to 3-1 when Ferguson upset 98th-ranked Bourchier, 6-3, 6-0. Despite the loss for Bourchier, the Nittany Lions were leading in the three remaining matches. Gormley earned a straight-set victory on court No. 2, 6-3, 6-4, over Langer. With Indiana holding a 3-2 lead, the overall match would come down to the No. 4 and 6 matchups.
The match was then clinched on court No. 4, where freshman Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) faced MacTaggart. In the first set, Welnetz cruised to a 6-1 victory. Nevertheless, MacTaggart was able to crawl back and win the second set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (4). From there, the Indiana product went on to win the third set, 6-1, to clinch the overall match for the Hoosiers. With the match already decided, Juneau defeated St-Maurice in three sets, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.
Penn State will travel to Wisconsin and Northwestern next weekend to close out the regular season. The Big Ten Championship begins on April 29 in Bloomington, Ind.
Final Score: #41 Indiana 5 #61 Penn State 2
Doubles
1. Lachlan Ferguson/Josh MacTaggart (Ind.) def. Eddie Bourchier/Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU), 9-8 (5)
2. Santiago Gruter/Jeremy Langer (Ind.) def. Warren Hardie/Jason Lee (PSU), 8-2
3. Alexander van Gils/Isade Juneau (Ind.) def. Ryan Gormley/Taylor Cohen (PSU), 9-8 (4)
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1. Lachlan Ferguson (Ind.) def. #98 Eddie Bourchier (PSU), 6-3, 6-0
2. Ryan Gormley (PSU) def. Jeremy Langer (Ind.), 6-3, 6-4
3. Santiago Gruter (Ind.) def. Jason Lee (PSU), 6-1, 6-2
4. Josh MacTaggart (Ind.) def. Bryan Welnetz (PSU), 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1
5. Isade Juneau (Ind.) def. Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU), 4-6, 6-4, 6-0
6. Taylor Cohen (PSU) def. Maxime Armengaud (Ind.), 6-4, 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 6, 1, 2, 4, 5