March 24, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team (10-8, 0-1) will resume Big Ten competition this weekend, traveling to No. 10 Illinois (9-6, 1-0) and No. 66 Iowa (6-4, 0-1) for a weekend series. The Nittany Lions will take on the Illini Friday, March 25 at 4 p.m. and the Hawkeyes Sunday, March 27 at 11 a.m.
Last weekend, the Nittany Lions soundly swept a home doubleheader against Youngstown State (6-1) and Bloomsburg (7-0). Penn State started quickly, jumping out to an early lead after sweeping doubles play in both matches. The Nittany Lions dominated singles play, dropping only one singles bout on the day, en route to routing the Penguins, 6-1, and sweeping the Huskies, 7-0. Coming off of his second career Big Ten Athlete of the Week honor, senior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) continued his sensational play, earning four victories on the day. Freshman Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) also added four victories.
With two more singles triumphs during the doubleheader, Bader now leads the team with 17 victories in 2010-11, including 12 victories during the spring season. Sophomore Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) has also chipped in with 17 wins this season, 10 of which have come this spring.
After defeating the Huskies' Ricky Dove and Mark Schroeder in first doubles Sunday (8-3), Bourchier tied the Penn State doubles wins record with 78 career doubles victories. The senior leads Penn State with 12 doubles triumphs this spring and will look to make history this weekend as the Nittany Lions return to Big Ten play.
Head coach Brad Dancer has Illinois sitting at No. 10 in the latest ITA team rankings after posting impressive victories over No. 17 Texas A&M and No. 66 Iowa in both teams' Big Ten opener. The Illini return an experienced roster with five upperclassmen leading the team, including the No. 7 singles player junior Dennis Nevolo and seniors Abe Souza (No. 64) and Johnny Hamui (No. 78). Nevolo alongside sophomore Stephen Hoh lead the team with 19 singles victories in 2010-11. Illinois also features strong doubles play as Nevolo and Souza form the No. 31 ranked doubles team, while Hamui and Souza form the 54th ranked duo.
The Nittany Lions will then face Steve Houghton's Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday. Iowa entered the season with a young, talented roster, including eight underclassmen. Junior Will Vasos leads the team with six singles victories, while junior Marc Bruche and senior Austen Kauss add five singles victories for the Hawkeyes. Bruche and Vasos also team up to form the No. 1 doubles tandem for Iowa.
The Nittany Lions will continue their road swing next weekend, traveling to Evanston, Ill. to do battle with the Northwestern Wildcats Sunday, April 3 at 11 a.m.