Jan. 21, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - Following a successful fall season, the Nittany Lion men's tennis team will open its 2011 spring campaign with two home matches versus St. Bonaventure and Lehigh on Sunday, Jan. 23. The Nittany Lions will begin play against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies at 10 a.m. and will then play Lehigh in the second match of the doubleheader at 3 p.m. Both matches will take place at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center and admission is free.
Senior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) enters the 2011 campaign looking to guide the Nittany Lions as the No. 1 singles player. Last year at the No. 1 position, Bourchier posted 11 of his 15 wins. Penn State No. 2 player, Jason Lee (Sydney, Australia), will work to build on a 9-11 singles record last season.
Bourchier and Lee will team up for Penn State's No.1 doubles pairing. Currently, Bourchier sits second on Penn State's all-time doubles wins list. Bourchier owns 64 career doubles wins, nine short of the all-time Nittany Lion career record of 73 wins.
Coach Todd Doebler earned praise for his new class of recruits. Three freshmen join the team this season with high expectations. Russell Bader (Austin, Texas), Harry Seaborn (West Salem, N.Y.) and Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) all add a youthful jolt to the experienced Nittany Lion team.
Led by head coach Michael Bates, St. Bonaventure enter the 2011 season after posting an 8-9 record last year.. The Bonnies bring back a wealth of experience this season with only one freshman on the roster. Seniors Enric Larregola, Chris Post, and Mikhail Sudakov lead St. Bonaventure in Bates' 16th season. Larregola was named Atlantic 10 Student-Athlete of the Year during his junior campaign after earning a spot on the All-Conference second team and All-Academic squad. Post also earned a spot on the All-Conference first team.
The Lehigh Mountain Hawks, led by Coach Dave Shook, enter 2011 after going 10-12 in 2010. Senior Troy List returns as the Mountain Hawk's No.1 player after earning Patriot League Player of Year honors last season after going 5-1 against other Patriot League No. 1 players. Senior Collin Laffey was a first team All-Patriot League selection last season after posting a 12-10 mark in singles play at the No. 2 position. List and Laffey will join for the No. 1 doubles position where they posted a 13-8 mark last season.
The No. 69 Nittany Lions have their first road trip of the season next weekend when they travel to Princeton, N.J., to take on the Tigers Saturday, January 29, at noon. The Lions are back at home to host Army Sunday, January 30, at 3 p.m. at the Indoor Tennis Center.