Sept. 24, 2010
FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. - The Penn State men's tennis team had a stellar day in singles play with all four Nittany Lions claiming first round victories at the USTA Invitational. The Nittany Lions will continue their run with quarterfinal singles matches on Saturday.
Junior Chris Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.) sprinted out to a 6-3 win in the first set against Fairfield's Joe Michalisin in first round Flight C singles action, but dropped a 7-5 decision in the second set before coming back strong for the 6-3 win in the deciding set to advance to the quarterfinals. Hasyn will face Marist's Matt Himmelsbach in the quarterfinals tomorrow at 12:15 p.m.
The Nittany Lions had a pair of representatives in the Flight D bracket in freshman Harry Seaborn (North Salem, N.Y.) and sophomore C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich.). Seaborn defeated Yale's Jordan Abergel, the flight's top seed, in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5, while Griffin earned the win when Fairleigh Dickinson's Dom Hemy retired due to injury with the match tied at one set each, 5-7, 7-6 (1). Seaborn meets Dartmouth's Brandon Debot and Griffin faces Mac McAnulty of Harvard in the quarterfinals. Both matches begin at 12:16 p.m. tomorrow.
In first round Flight E singles play, sophomore Guanhau Chen (DaLian, China) cruised to a 6-3 win in the first set against Yale's Patrick Chase and closed him out with a thrilling 7-6 (3) victory in the second set. Chen meets Rob Wong of Pennsylvania at 10:32 a.m. tomorrow.
In Flight A doubles action, Griffin and Hasyn came up short against Ibrahim Shams and Peter Skvarka of Fairleigh Dickinson, 8-6, in the first round and then dropped a consolation quarterfinal match to Casey Macmaster and Christo Schultz of Harvard, 8-6.
Also in doubles play, Chen and Seaborn were unable to advance in Flight B play with losses to Davis Mangham and Jonathan Pearlman of Harvard in the first round, 8-2, and to Asika Isoh and Tripp Johnson of Army in the consolation quarterfinals, 8-5.
Following this weekend, the Nittany Lions will have two weeks off before heading to the ITA Regional Championships on Oct. 14-18 in Charlottesville, Va. The squad will close the fall season at the Big Ten Singles tournament from Oct. 28-Nov. 1.
Doubles
Flight A
Round 1) Ibrahim Shams/Peter Skvarka (FDU) def. C.J. Griffin/Chris Hasyn (PSU), 8-4
Consolation Quarters) Casey Macmaster/Christo Schultz (Harvard) def. C.J. Griffin/Chris Hasyn (PSU), 8-6
Flight B
Round 1) Davis Mangham/Jonathan Pearlman (Harvard) def. Guanhua Chen/Harry Seaborn (PSU), 8-2
Consolation Quarters) Asika Isoh/Tripp Johnson (Army) def. Guanhua Chen/Harry Seaborn (PSU), 8-5
Singles
Flight C
Round 1) Chris Hasyn (Penn State) def. Joe Himmelsbach (Fairfield), 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
Flight D
Round 1) Harry Seaborn (Penn State) def. Jordan Abergel (Yale), 6-1, 7-5
Round 1) C.J. Griffin (Penn State) def. Dom Hemy (FDU), 5-7, 7-6 (1), retired
Flight E
Round 1) Guanhua Chen (Penn State) def. Patrick Chase (Yale), 6-3, 7-6 (3)