Jan. 19, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team will kick-start its 2012 spring campaign with a road test against the No. 59 N.C. State Wolfpack, Sunday, Jan.22. The Nittany Lions will travel to the Isenhour Tennis Center for the first of 15 matches against ITA Top-75 ranked opponents. The action begins at 10 a.m.
Senior Jason Lee (Sydney, Australia), red-shirt junior Chris Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.), and senior Taylor Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.) look to return Penn State to its high standard after a tough 2010-11 season. The trio will serve as tri-captains for the 2012 season after combining for 33 singles victories and 31 doubles triumphs last season. Cohen is coming off of a tremendous fall season, in which he posted a 4-2 singles record and reached his flight's finals at the Farnsworth/Princeton Invitational. Cohen and Hasyn also teamed together to earn a doubles consolation flight championship at the Farnsworth/Princeton Invitational, winning three straight after dropping their first match. Lee will take the No. 1 singles position for the Nittany Lions.
"It is nice to have tri-captains like Taylor (Cohen), Chris (Hasyn), and Jason (Lee) who bring tremendous energy to the program and the rest of the players," said Coach Jeff Zinn. "They are great at bringing the other players together."
Freshman Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) enters the 2012 spring campaign as the ITA No. 80 singles player. The Czech native finished his first fall season with an 8-4 singles record. He earned a flight championship over follow teammate, Cohen, at the Farnsworth/Princeton Invitational as part of a six-match winning streak to open his career at Penn State. He capped off a strong fall season with a victory over No. 101-ranked Marc Bruche of Iowa (6-7, 6-3, 7-6).
Sophomore Russell Bader (Austin Texas) returns looking to best last season's team-high 22 singles victories.
N.C. State head coach Jon Choboy, in his tenth season, looks to improve upon a 10-14 finish in 2010-11. Two-time All-ACC selection Jaime Pulgar returns to the lineup after missing the entire fall season. He posted a 17-11 overall record, including a 10-8 spring mark last season. Freshman Austin Powell enters the season ranked as the No. 100 singles player in the country, as well. Junior Rafael Paez posted a team-high five singles victories during the fall season.
Zinn entered the Penn State family Aug. 20 after serving 15 years as the head coach at Wake Forest. While with the Demon Deacons, Zinn posted a 231-157 record and made 12 NCAA tournament appearances. Zinn inherits eight returning players from a 2010-11 squad that finished 10-18 (0-10).
The Nittany Lions will return home to the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center following their southern swing for a nine-match homestand, which begins Saturday, Jan. 28, with a doubleheader. The Lions will host St. Bonaventure at 10 a.m. and Lehigh at 3 p.m. Admission is free to all fans.