Feb. 12, 2011
University Park, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team (4-2) used four singles victories to earn a hard-fought 5-2 victory over No. 64 Cornell at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center. Senior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) and junior Jason Lee (Sydney, Australia) earned multiple victories for the Nittany Lions Saturday.
The Nittany Lions broke open the match early, coming back from a 1-0 deficit in doubles play to take the first point of the afternoon. The No. 2 pairing of freshmen Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) and Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) dropped the first doubles match, 8-3, putting Penn State in an early hole. However, Bourchier and Lee responded quickly in the No. 1 pairing, downing Cornell's Andy Gauthier and Jeremy Feldman, 8-5. The Nittany Lions then sealed the first point of the match when sophomore Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) and junior Chris Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.) downed Mirza Klis and Evan McElwain, 8-4, in third doubles.
With the Nittany Lions already commanding a 1-0 lead, the match turned to singles action. Penn State relinquished the lead temporarily as Welnetz could not hang on against Jonathan Jaklitsch, falling 6-3, 6-1and tying the match, 1-1.
All attention then turned to Bourchier in the first singles match. He fell behind early in the first set but rallied impressively to force a tiebreaker. He won the breaker 7-3 and never looked back, cruising to a 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory, giving the Nittany Lions a 2-1 lead.
The match then turned to Lee in the No. 3 singles bout. The junior never trailed en route to victory and a third point for the Nittany Lions (7-5, 6-4). Shortly thereafter, Bader sealed the match in dramatic fashion, overcoming a 4-0 first set hole to force and win a tie breaker, 7-3. He then breezed through the second set, winning 6-0 and giving Penn State its fourth point of the match.
Once the match had been decided, Even Bernstein defeated Hasyn in fifth singles (6-4, 4-6, 10-7) to give Cornell its second point and Young controlled No. 6 singles, defeating Max Haskin (6-2, 6-3), giving the Nittany Lions a 5-2 victory.
The Nittany Lions continue their three-match homestand this weekend with a doubleheader against Buffalo (11 a.m.) and Bucknell (4 p.m.) Sunday at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center. Admission is free. The Nittany Lions will make their second road trip of the season next weekend when the travel to Blacksburg, Va. to face Virginia Tech Sunday, Feb. 20 at noon.
Penn State 5, #64 Cornell 2:
Doubles:
1. Eddie Bourchier/Jason Lee (PSU) def. Andy Gauthier/Jeremy Feldman (Cornell), 8-5
2. Jonathan Jaklitsch/Evan Bernstein (Cornell) def. Russell Bader/C.J. Griffin (PSU), 8-3
3. Bryan Welnetz/Chris Hasyn (PSU) def. Mirza Klis/Evan McElwain (Cornell), 8-4
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles:
1. Eddie Bourchier (PSU) def. Andy Gauthier (Cornell), 7-6 (3), 6-3
2. Jonathan Jaklitsch (Cornell) def. Bryan Welnetz (PSU), 6-3, 6-1
3. Jason Lee (PSU) def. Mirza Klis (Cornell), 7-5, 6-4
4. Russell Bader (PSU) def. Jeremy Feldman (Cornell), 7-6 (3), 6-0
5. Evan Bernstein (Cornell) def. Chris Hasyn (PSU), 6-4, 4-6, 10-7
6. Chris Young (PSU) def. Max Haskin (Cornell), 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6