April 22, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team (10-16, 0-9) fell to No. 63 Purdue, 6-1, on a rainy Friday afternoon at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center. Sophomore Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) entered a victory in fourth singles for the Nittany Lions lone point (6-3, 4-6, 6-4).
Bolstered by a rowdy crowd of returning alumni, the Nittany Lions jumped out to a fast start, taking sizeable leads in all three doubles pairings. Junior Christopher Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.) and Welnetz built a 4-2 lead in the third doubles match against Aaron Dujovne and Mark Kovacs. Purdue fought back and quickly overtook Hasyn and Welnetz, earning the first win of the afternoon, 8-5. Junior Jason Lee (Sydney, Australia) and sophomore C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich.) followed the same script in second doubles, riding early momentum to a 4-2 lead before falling, 8-6.
After Purdue clinched the first point of the match, the largest crowd of the season enjoyed a well played match in first doubles. Senior Eddie Bourchier (Hobart, Australia) and freshman Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) traded point with Eric Ramos and Krisztian Krocsko to an 8-8 tie. Helped by the raucous crowd, Bourchier and Bader continued to fight until the end, pulling out a 10-8 decision to give the Nittany Lions hope in singles play.
Trailing 1-0, Penn State looked to keep the momentum rolling. Lee could not keep up with Kovacs though, falling in straight set (6-2, 6-2) and giving the Boilermakers a 2-0 lead.
Welnetz was up to the occasion though. The sophomore came out swinging, taking the first set, 6-3. He fell behind and could not recover during the second set, dropping a hard fought contest (6-4). Welnetz finally put away Krocsko in the third set with a ferocious volley that ended in the first victory of the afternoon for the Nittany Lions (6-3, 4-6, 6-4).
From there, Bourchier took center stage. The senior jumped out to the early advantage, running away with the first set, 6-1. The second set went to a tense tie breaker, as Syzmon Tataczyk rebounded from a sluggish start to defeat Bourchier (7-6 (7)). Finally, Tataczyk took down Bourchier in the third set, 6-3, to give the Boilermakers a 3-1 lead.
With the match on the line, all attention turned to Hasyn in fifth singles. Hasyn ran into a roadblock in Ramos though, falling 6-4, 6-0. The Boilermakers took a 4-1 lead and clinched the match with the victory.
After the match had been decided, Bader fell in a hard fought match to Dujovne (4-6, 6-3, 6-4) and Griffin dropped the sixth singles bout to Pawel Poziomski (6-2, 6-2) to finish the match.
The Nittany Lions will remain home for the final match of the regular season Sunday, April 24 at noon. The match will be played at the Sarni Tennis Center weather permitting. Admission is free.
#63 Purdue 6, Penn State 1:
Doubles:
1. Russell Bader/Eddie Bourchier (PSU) def. Eric Ramos/Krisztian Krocsko (PUR), 10-8
2. Szymon Tatarczyk/Pawel Poziomski (PUR) def. Chris Young/Jason Lee (PSU), 8-6
3. Aaron Dujovne/Mark Kovacs (PUR) def. Christopher Hasyn/Bryan Welnetz (PSU), 8-5
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles:
1. Syzmon Tataczyk (PUR) def. Eddie Bourchier (PSU), 1-6, 7-6 (7), 6-3
2. Mark Kovacs (PUR) def. Jason Lee (PSU), 6-2, 6-2
3. Aaron Dujovne (PUR) def. Russell Bader (PSU), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. Bryan Welnetz (PSU) def. Krisztian Krocsko (PUR), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
5. Eric Ramos (PUR) def. Chris Hasyn (PSU), 6-4, 6-0
6. Pawel Poziomski (PUR) def. C.J. Griffin (PSU), 6-2, 6-2
Order of finish: 2, 4, 1, 5, 3, 6