Feb. 17, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team (6-2) will hit the road for the second time this season, heading to Blacksburg, Va. to take on the No. 30 Virginia Tech Hokies (4-4) Sunday, Feb. 20 at noon.
Last time out, the Nittany Lions continued their hot play, sweeping a doubleheader Feb. 13 against Buffalo and Bucknell. Junior Jason Lee (Sydney, Australia) and sophomore C.J Griffin (Portland, Mich.) each picked up three wins in the doubleheader.
Senior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) looks to continue his quest to become the Penn State career doubles victories leader this weekend. After three tough victories last weekend, Bourchier now owns 70 career doubles victories, three short of the record 73. Bourchier is 12-3 in doubles action, primarily with Lee as his partner, and is 12-5 in singles play.
Sophomore Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) has a team-best 13 singles wins this season, including a win over Buffalo last weekend. Freshman Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) is a perfect 7-0 this spring and has 12 singles victories overall. He has also tallied five doubles wins this spring with three different partners.
This weekend, the Nittany Lions will face a tough test in the No. 30 Hokies. Led by coach Jim Thompson, the Hokies are 4-4, and have played five top 40 schools to date, including a 4-3 victory over No. 35 Boise State Feb. 11. Virginia Tech returns a pool of young talent, with only three seniors returning this season. Junior Luka Somen, presents the toughest challenge for the Nittany Lions in the No. 1 singles position. Somen earned ACC Player of the Week honors after defeating two ranked opponents last weekend. He is currently No. 39 in the ITA singles rankings and owns a 7-1 record in dual matches.
The Nittany Lions will continue their road swing next weekend. Penn State will travel to Montgomery, Ala. to participate in the prestigious Blue-Gray tournament from Friday, Feb. 25-Sunday, Feb. 28 against some of the nation's finest talent.