March 11, 2011
TAMPA, FLA. - The No. 70 Penn State men's tennis team (6-8, 0-1) battled back from an early 3-0 deficit, but could not complete the comeback in a tough 4-3 loss at South Florida (6-3) Friday afternoon. Junior Jason Lee (Sydney, Australia) and freshmen Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) and Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) each picked up points for the Nittany Lions.
The Nittany Lions fell behind quickly in doubles play as Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) and Chris Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.) dropped an 8-4 decision to Lucas Jovita and Sabastian Hagn in third doubles. The Bulls then clinched the doubles point as Lee and C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich.) came up short in an 8-4 second pairs match to Wael Kilani and Frederico Sabogal. Rounding out doubles action, Bader and senior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) fell to Romain Deridder and Yannick Yoshizawa in a tiebreaker, 8-7 (5).
The Bulls kept the momentum heading into singles action as Jovita topped Bourchier in first singles by a 6-2, 6-0 count. USF extended the lead to 3-0 using a 6-1, 6-4 sixth singles win by Hagn over Guanhua Chen (DeLian, China).
From there the Nittany Lions put together a valiant rally as Bader jumpstarted Penn State with a straight-sets win over Sabogal in four singles (6-4, 6-3) to give the Lions their first point of the day. Lee cut into the lead further with a 6-4, 6-3 second singles win over Deridder to make it a 3-2 game.
Young knotted the match at 3-3 with a thrilling three-set win over Yoshizawa in fifth singles play. Young picked up a 6-4 win in the opening set, but Yoshizawa bounced back for a 6-4 win of his own in the second set, but Young was able to pick up the point with a 6-3 victory in the deciding set. In the deciding third singles match, Welnetz jumped out to a 7-5 win in the first set over Kilani. However, Kilani rallied past Welnetz with 6-4 and 6-3 wins in the next two sets to clinch the point and the win for South Florida.
The Nittany Lions return home Sunday for a doubleheader against Navy (noon) and Villanova (5 p.m.) at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center. Admission to both matches is free.
South Florida 4, #70 Penn State 3
Doubles
1. Romain Deridder/Yannick Yoshizawa (USF) def. Eddie Bourchier/Russell Bader (PSU), 8-7 (5)
2. Wael Kilani/Federico Sabogal (USF) def. Jason Lee/C.J. Griffin (PSU), 8-4
3. Lucas Jovita/Sebastian Hagn (USF) def. Bryan Welnetz/Chris Hasyn (PSU), 8-4
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1. Lucas Jovita (USF) def. Eddie Bourchier (PSU), 6-2, 6-0
2. Jason Lee (PSU) def. Romain Deridder (USF), 6-4, 6-3
3. Wael Kilani (USF) def. Bryan Welnetz (PSU), 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
4. Russell Bader (PSU) def. Federico Sabogal (USF), 6-4, 6-3
5. Chris Young (PSU) def. Yannick Yoshizawa (USF), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
6. Sebastian Hagn (USF) def. Guanhua Chen (PSU), 6-1, 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 6, 4, 2, 5, 3