The Penn State men's tennis team (10-16, 0-8) dropped its eighth consecutive Big Ten match Sunday afternoon at No. 73 Wisconsin, 6-1. In almost a carbon copy of Friday's loss at No. 24 Minnesota, freshman Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) earned the lone point of the afternoon with a third singles victory (6-2, 6-2).
The Nittany Lions received an early spark to begin doubles play from the No. 67 doubles tandem of senior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) and Bader. The pair took control early and finished off the No. 51 duo of Marek Michalicka and Billy Bertha, taking the first match of the afternoon, 7-3. Penn State could not capitalize though as junior Jason Lee (Sydney, Australia) and freshman Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) fell in second doubles, 8-6. With the doubles point on the line, sophomore Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) and junior Christopher Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.) fell in their third doubles match against Alexander Teppert and Ricardo Martin, 8-3, sealing the first point for Wisconsin.
With the Nittany Lions trailing early, attention turned to sophomore Guanhua Chen (DaLian, China) in sixth singles. Young stayed close to Rodney Carey in the first set before eventually falling, 6-4. Carey took the second set, 6-1, giving the Badgers a 2-0 lead.
For the second match in a row, Penn State earned its lone point of the afternoon in third singles. Bader cut the Nittany Lion deficit in half when he took a commanding lead in both sets before notching a convincing (6-2, 6-2) victory.
The momentum was short lived though, as No. 57 singles player, Michalicka, took down Bourchier (6-4, 6-4). The Badgers then clinched the match in the No. 4 singles bout. Welnetz pushed the first set to a tie break before falling to Fredrick Ask (7-6, 6-0).
After the match had been clinched, sophomore C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich.) dropped an extremely well played match to Martin. Griffin easily took the first set 6-1. He then took the second set to a tie breaker but could not outlast Martin (7-6 (7-3)). Griffin then dropped the tie breaker third set, 10-6. Finally, Lee fell to Bertha in second singles (6-4, 7-6 (7-3)) to bring the match to a close.
The Nittany Lions will return home for their final homestand of the regular season against Purdue Friday, April 22 at 3 p.m. and Indiana Sunday, Sunday April 24 at noon. Admission is free to both matches, which will be played at the Sarni Tennis Center weather permitting.
#73 Wisconsin 6, Penn State 1:
Doubles:
1. Russell Bader/Eddie Bourchier (PSU) def. #51 Marek Michalicka/Billy Bertha (WIS), 7-3
2. Fredrik Ask/Rodney Carey (WIS) def. Chris Young/Jason Lee (PSU), 8-6
3. Alexander Teppert/Ricardo Martin (WIS) def. Christopher Hasyn/Bryan Welnetz (PSU), 8-3
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles:
1. #57 Marek Michalicka (WIS) def. Eddie Bourchier (PSU), 6-4, 6-4
2. Billy Bertha (WIS) def. Jason Lee (PSU), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
3. Russell Bader (PSU) def. Petr Satral (WIS), 6-2, 6-2
4. Fredrik Ask (WIS) def. Bryan Welnetz (PSU), 7-6, 6-0
5. Ricardo Martin (WIS) def. C.J. Griffin (PSU), 1-6, 7-6 (7-3), 1-0 (10-6)
6. Rodney Carey (WIS) def. Guanhua Chen (PSU), 6-4, 6-1
Order of finish: 6, 3, 1, 4, 5, 2