March 3, 2011
University PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team (6-6, 0-0) will return home to the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center Friday to face the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes (14-1, 0-0) at 1:30 p.m. in the Big Ten opener for both teams. Admission is free.
The Nittany Lions return home from Montgomery, Ala. and the Blue Gray Tournament, where they faced tough competition, including No. 24 Notre Dame, No. 29 Alabama, and No. 46 Boise State. While Penn State did not earn a victory during the tournament, sophomore Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) and freshman Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) each picked up singles victories during the weekend.
Senior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) and Bader partnered for the only the sixth time of the season Sunday against Boise State. The pair scored an impressive doubles victory against Notre Dame, beating ITA doubles No. 28 pairing of Stephen Havens and Tyler Davis, earning the duo this week's No. 63 ITA doubles ranking.
Bouchier looks to continue his quest to become the Penn State career doubles victories leader this weekend. After winning two of three matches last weekend at the Blue Gray Tournament, Bourchier now owns 72 career doubles victories, six short of the record 78 set by Michael James (2004-08.) Bourchier is 14-5 in doubles action and is 12-8 in singles play.
Bader owns the best singles record this spring, earning an 8-2 mark. He owns 13 singles victories overall. Bader has also tallied seven doubles wins this spring with three different partners.
This weekend, the Nittany Lions will face the toughest test of their season when No. 3 Ohio State arrives in State College. Led by coach Ty Tucker, Ohio State is 14-1, and has played seven ITA top 40 schools to date, winning six. The Buckeyes only loss of the season came to No. 1 Virginia (4-1) at the ITA National Indoor Team Championship. Ohio State brings an experienced roster into the match, including seven ITA top 125 singles players and three ITA top 75 doubles teams. ITA ranked No. 4 singles player, freshman Blaz Rola, presents the toughest challenge for the Nittany Lions in the No. 1 singles position.
The Nittany Lions will head to Tampa Bay, Fla. next Friday, March 11 for a 2 p.m. match against South Florida. Penn State will then return home for a doubleheader Sunday, March 13 against Navy at noon and Villanova at 5 p.m.