April 21, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team (14-9, 2-6) closes out the 2010 regular season with a road trip to No. 27 Wisconsin and No. 57 Northwestern. The Nittany Lions will first face Wisconsin on Friday with a 3 p.m. start. Penn State will then finish the weekend with a match on Sunday at noon with Northwestern. Both matches can be followed via a live stats link on GoPSUSports.com.
Last Time Out: Penn State suffered a 5-2 loss to the No. 41 Indiana Hoosiers last 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 Hoosiers won four of the six singles matches to earn a 5-2 victory. Along with Gormley, sophomore Taylor Cohen (Philadelphia, PA.) earned a singles victory for the Nittany Lions.
Scouting Wisconsin: The 27th-ranked Badgers head into this weekend's match with a 17-6 overall record and a 6-2 mark in conference play. Wisconsin's talented lineup features two ranked singles players. Marek Michalicka, ranked 28th in the latest ITA Rankings, carries a 17-2 record in singles action, playing primarily in the No. 1 and 2 bouts. Moritz Baumann enters the match with Penn State at 19th in the country. Baumann holds an overall record of 13-4 as he has seen the majority of his time in the No. 1 spot.
All-Time vs. the Badgers: Wisconsin holds a 13-7 advantage over the Nittany Lions all-time. Last season, the Nittany Lions upset the Badgers, 5-2, in Happy Valley. Former player and current Penn State assistant coach Brendan Lynch upset Bauman last season, who was ranked 28th and headed into the matchup with a 22-0 record. Lynch tallied a 7-6 (5), 4-6, 1-0 (10-4) win over Bauman.
Scouting Northwestern: The Wildcats enter this weekend ranked 57th and hold a record of 9-12 with a 1-7 mark in conference play. Joshua Graves leads the way for Northwestern as he is ranked 91st and carries a 10-9 record in dual matches, all of the action in the No. 1 spot. Spencer Wolf leads the Wildcats with 11 wins in singles action.
All-Time vs. the Wildcats: Penn State holds a 4-16 all-time record vs. Northwestern. Last season, the Wildcats stole one from the Nittany Lions in a 5-2 victory for Northwestern. The last time Penn State defeated Northwestern was on March 3, 2008, as the Nittany Lions knocked off the Wildcats, 7-0.
What's Next: Following this weekend, Penn State will turn its attention to the 2010 Big Ten Championships in Bloomington, Ind. The Big Ten Men's Tennis Championship will be held at Indiana April 29-May 2, 2010.