Feb. 13, 2011
University Park, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team (6-2) pushed its winning streak to three after sweeping a doubleheader against Buffalo (2-2) and Bucknell (0-3) Sunday at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center. The Nittany Lions defeated Buffalo, 5-2, and topped Bucknell, 6-1. Junior Jason Lee (Sydney, Australia) and sophomore C.J Griffin (Portland, Mich.) each picked up three wins in the doubleheader.
Penn State 5, Buffalo 2
Penn State started the first match of the doubleheader in style, taking two of three doubles bouts en route to an early 1-0 lead. The second doubles tandem of Griffin and freshman Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) earned a hard fought 8-6 victory over Buffalo's Marcelo Mazzetto and Travis Zappia, giving the Nittany Lions an early edge. Senior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) and Lee continued the Nittany Lions success in the No. 1 pairing, downing Wojceiech Starakiewic and Mitch Zenaty, 9-7 to clinch the point for Penn State. Sophomore Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) and junior Chris Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.) rebounded from a 4-1 deficit to tie the contest 5-5, but could not complete the sweep, falling in third doubles, 8-6.
Leading 1-0, the Nittany Lions turned to singles action looking to seal the victory. Bader answered the call quickly, sweeping Mazzetto in the first set before going on to win 6-0, 6-1 and give Penn State a 2-0 lead. Bourchier could not keep up his hot singles play, falling to Starakiewic (6-4, 6-3). However, Welnetz responded for the Nittany Lions again, defeating George Tibil 6-3, 6-3 to give Penn State a 3-1 lead.
The match then turned to Lee in the No. 3 singles bout. Lee faced a fierce fight from Vusa Hove to force a tiebreak in the first set. Lee came out strong in the breaker, winning 7-3 to take the first set. He then overcame a 5-4 deficit by winning three consecutive points in the second set to push past Hove (7-6 (3), 7-5) to clinch the match for the Nittany Lions.
Once the match had been decided, Jason Simon defeated Young in fifth singles (6-2, 6-4) to give Buffalo its second point. Finally, Hasyn navigated No. 6 singles, defeating Zappia (6-3, 6-3), sealing the Nittany Lions' 5-2 victory.
Penn State 5, Buffalo 2
Doubles:
1. Eddie Bourchier/Jason Lee (PSU) def. Wojciech Starakiewic/Mitch Zenaty (Buffalo), 9-7
2. Russell Bader/C.J. Griffin (PSU) def. Marcelo Mazzetto/Travis Zappia (Buffalo), 8-6
3. Vusa Hove/George Tibil (Buffalo) def. Bryan Welnetz/Chris Hasyn (PSU), 8-6
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles:
1. Wojciech Starakiewic (Buffalo) def. Eddie Bourchier (PSU), 6-4, 6-3
2. Bryan Welnetz (PSU) def. George Tibil (Buffalo), 6-3, 6-3
3. Jason Lee (PSU) def. Vusa Hove (Buffalo), 7-6 (3), 7-5
4. Russell Bader (PSU) def. Marcelo Mazzetto (Buffalo). 6-0, 6-1
5. Jason Simon (Buffalo) def. Chris Young (PSU), 6-2, 6-4
6. Chris Hasyn (PSU) def. Travis Zappia (Buffalo), 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 4, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6
Penn State 6, Bucknell 1
Penn State continued its scorching play against Bucknell in the second match of Sunday's doubleheader. The Nittany Lions got off to a fast start against the Bison, sweeping doubles play and taking the early 1-0 advantage. No. 1 doubles partners Bourchier and Bader dominated play from start to finish on the way to an 8-1 victory against Bucknell's Anton Kovic and Evan Zimmer.
Freshman Harry Seaborn (North Salem, N.Y.) and Welnetz then combined to defeat Josh Katten and Kelly Morgue, 8-5, to clinch the doubles point. Hasyn and Young finished the sweep with a strong effort in second doubles, winning 8-3 against Gregg Cohenca and Mark Malloy.
After taking the first point of the match, the Nittany Lions looked to singles play to seal their third victory of the weekend. Hasyn promptly responded, taking beating Kyle Rosen in fourth singles (6-2, 6-1), giving Penn State a 2-0 lead. Lee quickly followed in No.2 singles, defeating Zimmer (6-1, 6-2) for a 3-0 lead. The Nittany Lions then clinched the match in the third singles bout as Young beat Katten (6-4, 6-2) to seal the fourth and deciding point.
After the match had been decided, the Bison got on the board in first singles as Cohenca defeated Welnetz (5-7, 6-1, 10-6). Sophomore Guanhua Chen (DaLian, China) earned his first victory of the season in fifth singles (6-0, 6-3) to give the Nittany Lions a 5-1 lead. Finally, Griffin cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 win in sixth singles over Malloy.
Penn State 6, Bucknell 1
Doubles:
1. Eddie Bourchier/Russell Bader (PSU) def. Anton Kovic/Evan Zimmer (Bucknell), 8-1
2. Chris Hasyn/Chris Young (PSU) def. Gregg Cohenca/Mark Malloy (Bucknell), 8-3
3. Harry Seaborn/Bryan Welnetz (PSU) def. Josh Katten/Kelly Morgue (Bucknell), 8-5
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles:
1. Gregg Cohenca (Bucknell) def. Bryan Welnetz (PSU), 5-7, 6-1, 10-6
2. Jason Lee (PSU) def. Evan Zimmer (Bucknell), 6-1, 6-2
3. Chris Young (PSU) def. Josh Katten (Bucknell), 6-4, 6-2
4. Chris Hasyn (PSU) def. Kyle Rosen (Bucknell), 6-2, 6-1
5. Guanhua Chen (PSU) def. Kelly Morgue (Bucknell), 6-0, 6-3
6. C.J. Griffin (PSU) def. Mark Malloy (Bucknell), 6-1, 6-3
Order of finish: 4, 2, 3, 1, 5, 6
The Nittany Lions will make their second road trip of the season next weekend, looking to continue their hot play when the travel to Blacksburg, Va. to face the No. 29 Virginia Tech Hokies Sunday, Feb. 20 at noon.