Jan. 23, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The 69th-ranked Penn State men's tennis team (2-0) opened the season in style, earning two 6-1 wins over St. Bonaventure and Lehigh Sunday at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center.
"All in all, it was a good start to the season. I felt like guys got a lot of time on the court to knock off some rust and going with the semester," said Coach Todd Doebler. "It is definitely a good way to get the ball rolling going into next weekend and our match against Princeton. They are traditionally a very talented, good team that we have had a tough time against them. It's going to be a tough task going in there and playing them, we are 4-13 against them all-time. I am looking forward to having a good week of practice before going in there and facing them."
Penn State 6, St. Bonaventure 1
Penn State started the season with three straight victories in doubles action to take an early 1-0 advantage. The Nittany Lions then took five of six singles matches to secure a 6-1 victory.
In doubles action, the No. 3 pairing of freshman Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) and junior Chris Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.) jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in their bout with St. Bonaventure's Luis Guevara and Javier Ortiz. They never looked back, taking the first match 8-2.
The No.1 pairing of senior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) and junior Jason Lee (Sydney, Australia) played confidently, never trailing in their 8-3 victory over Enric Larregola and Mikhail Sudakov to clinch the doubles point. With the win, Bourchier moved to within eight doubles victories of Penn State's' all-time wins record. Having already clinched the doubles point, the No. 2 pairing of Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) and freshman Harry Seaborn (North Salem, N.Y.) finished off doubles action with a hard fought 8-5 victory over St. Bonaventure's Chris Post and Elliot Fanshel.
With Penn State leading 1-0, the match turned to singles action. Welnetz took control of his No. 3 match against Sudakov early, winning the first set 6-0. He never looked back, taking a 3-0 lead before eventually taking the second set, 6-2. The victory gave Penn State a 2-0 advantage and clear momentum.
Lee quickly followed suit in the No. 2 match against Larregola. Lee jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first set, but lost two straight points before winning the first set, 6-2. The Nittany Lions took a 3-0 lead in the match and all but secured a victory as Lee finished his match with Larregola with a 6-0 second set for a straight set victory.
Penn State clinched the match in the No. 4 match up, featuring Bader and Fanshel. Bader took both sets 6-2 to earn the Nittany Lions' fourth point and clinch the match. Bader jumped out early to a 3-0 lead early in both sets on the way to victory.
With the match already in hand, the action turned to arguably the best match up of the morning. Bouchier faced Post in a No. 1 match up that did not disappoint. Bourchier never trailed and took a hard fought first set, 6-3. In the second set, Bourchier and Post traded points, needing a tie breaker to decide the set. They once again traded points until Post finally put away Bourchier for a tough 6-7 (7-9) loss. Bourchier then tightened his game and easily took the third set 6-1 to give the Nittany Lions a 5-0 lead.
In the No. 5 bout, Hasyn needed three sets to beat Guevara to earn his first victory of the season 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5) to and up the score to 6-0. In the No. 6 bout, freshman Seaborn dropped a tough match up against Oscar Yanez 6-7, 3-6 to finish the morning's action. Seaborn fought back from a 4-0 deficit to force a tiebreak in the first set before eventually dropping the tiebreak, 6-8. With the final point awarded to St. Bonaventure, the match came to its conclusion with the Nittany Lions winning their opener 6-1.
Final Score: #69 Penn State 6 def. St. Bonventure 1
Doubles:
1. Eddie Bourchier/Jason Lee (PSU) def. Enric Larregola/Mikhail Sudakov (SBU), 8-3
2. Bryan Welnetz/Harry Seaborn (PSU) def. Chris Post/Elliot Fanshel (SBU), 8-5
3. Russell Bader/Chris Hasyn (PSU) def. Luis Guevara/Javier Ortiz, 8-2
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles:
1. Eddie Bourchier (PSU) def. Chris Post (SBU), 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-1
2. Jason Lee (PSU) def. Enric Larregola (SBU), 6-2, 6-0
3. Bryan Welnetz (PSU) def. Mikhail Sudakov, 6-0, 6-2
4. Russell Bader (PSU) def. Elliot Fanshel (SBU), 6-2, 6-2
5. Chris Hasyn (PSU) def. Luis Guevara (SBU), 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5)
6. Oscar Yanez (SBU) def. Harry Seaborn (PSU), 7-6 (6), 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 2, 4, 1, 5, 6
Penn State 6, Lehigh 1
In the second match of the doubleheader, the Nittany Lions (2-0) jumped out to a strong start again, sweeping the double matches to take a quick 1-0 lead. Penn State then went on to take five of six singles matches to once again earn a 6-1 win.
In doubles action, Hasyn and Bader set the tone for the match, jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead before going on to take the No. 3 match up against Mark Goldberg and Arnaldo Pacheco, 8-2. In the No. 2 match, Taylor Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Welnetz edged Matt Savran and Cameron Silbert, 8-4, to clinch the point and a 1-0 lead for the Nittany Lions. In the final match, the No. 1 pairing of Bourchier and Lee defeated Troy List and Colin Laffey for an 8-4 victory and a sweep of the doubles matches.
With the lead and momentum once again, the Nittany Lions turned to singles actions. In the No. 3 match, Lee blew past Lehigh's Savarn to win in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1, and take a 2-0 lead. The focus then turned to the No. 2 match up where Welnetz continued his strong play, taking down Laffey in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0, for a 3-0 lead.
Cohen clinched the victory for Penn State with his victory over Goldberg in the No. 4 match. Cohen lost the first set, 4-6, before going on to win the second set, 6-1, and the third set, 6-2, giving the Nittany Lions a 4-0 advantage. Once again, the best pairing of the day belonged to No. 1 Bourchier against his counterpart List. Bouchier earned a tough 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory, besting List in three sets after dropping the middle frame to an upset-minded List. The win gave the Nittany Lions a 5-0 lead.
In the No. 5 match up, Bader knocked off Ryan Kruger in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, to give Penn State a 6-0 lead. In the final match, Guanhua Chen (Dalina, China) fell to Andrew Krentz, 6-0, 4-6, 1-0 (10-1)
Final Score: #69 Penn State 6 def. Lehigh 1
Doubles:
1. Eddie Bourchier/Jason Lee (PSU) def. Troy List/Colin Laffey (Lehigh), 8-4
2. Taylor Cohen/Bryan Welnetz (PSU) def. Matt Savran/Cameron Silbert (Lehigh), 8-4
3. Chris Hasyn/Russell Bader (PSU) def. Mark Goldberg/Arnaldo Pancheco (Lehigh), 8-2
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles:
1. Eddie Bourchier (PSU) def. Troy List (Lehigh), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
2. Bryan Welnetz (PSU) def. Colin Laffey (Lehigh), 6-2, 6-0
3. Jason Lee (PSU) def. Matt Savran (Lehigh), 6-0, 6-1
4. Taylor Cohen (PSU) def. Mark Goldberg (Lehigh), 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
5. Russell Bader (PSU) def. Ryan Kruger (Lehigh), 6-3, 6-1
6. Andrew Krentz (Lehigh) def. Guanhua Chen (PSU), 0-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-1)
Penn State will take its first road trip of the season Saturday, Jan. 29 as they travel for a noon match up at Princeton. The Nittany Lions return home Sunday, Jan. 30 to face the Army Black Knights at 1 p.m