Feb. 4, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team (4-2) split a Saturday afternoon doubleheader at the Indoor Tennis Center. The Nittany Lions fell in a 6-1 decision to No. 32 Virginia Tech (2-1) to open the day before rebounding against Bloomsburg (1-1) in the nightcap.
#32 Virginia Tech 6, Penn State 1
Penn State fought hard from start to finish against No. 32 Virginia Tech, but could not quite overcome the Hokie onslaught. Junior Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) and red-shirt junior Christopher Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.) led off doubles play in the No. 2 slot with an 8-4 loss to Lucas Oliveira and Hunter Koontz. Senior Jason Lee (Sydney, Australia) and sophomore Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) responded though, taking down their second consecutive ranked opponent in first doubles. The duo defeated the ITA No. 51 pairing of Luka Somen and Corrado Degl'Incerti Tocci, 8-6, evening the doubles stanza at one apiece. Senior Taylor Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.) and sophomore Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) could not hold on in third doubles though, falling 8-6, which allowed Virginia Tech to clinch the first point.
Trailing 1-0, Penn State looked to singles play to change its fortunes. Cohen fell, 6-3, 6-4 in fourth singles to Mauricio Antun though, giving Virginia Tech a 2-0 lead to start the singles slate. Then, Bader fell to Patrick Daciek, 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 3 bout. With the Nittany Lions trailing 3-0, freshman Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) dropped a tight second singles match to No. 71 Lucas Oliveira, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
After the match had been decided, Welnetz earned Penn State's first victory of the afternoon. The Texan improved to 4-1 on the season by out-dueling Corrado Delg'Incerti Tocci, 4-6, 6-4, 10-4. Lee then followed with a defeat at the hands of No. 58 Luka Somen, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3. Hasyn capped the match with a tough sixth singles loss (6-2, 6-0).
Final Score: #32 Virginia Tech 6, Penn State 1
Doubles:
1. Jason Lee/Russell Bader (PSU) def. #51 Luka Somen/Corrado Degl'Incerti Tocci (VT), 8-6
2. Lucas Oliveira/Hunter Koontz (VT) def. Bryan Welnetz/Christopher Hasyn (PSU), 8-4
3. Trpimir Kijundzic/Mauricio Antun (VT) def. Taylor Cohen/Chris Young (PSU), 8-6
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles:
1. #58 Luka Somen (VT) def. Jason Lee (PSU), 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3
2. #71 Lucas Oliveira (VT) def. Tomas Hanzlik (PSU), 6-3, 7-6 (4)
3. Patrick Daciek (VT) def. Russell Bader (PSU), 6-2, 6-2
4. Mauricio Antun (VT) def. Taylor Cohen (PSU), 6-3, 6-4
5. Bryan Welnetz (PSU) def. Corrado Delg'Incerti Tocci (VT), 4-6, 6-4, 10-4
6. Trpimir Kijundzic (VT) def. Christopher Hasyn (PSU), 6-2, 6-0
Order of finish: 4, 3, 2, 5, 1, 6
Penn State 6, Bloomsburg 1
The Nittany Lions rebounded quickly from a defeat in the front end of the doubleheader by sweeping doubles play from the Bloomsburg Huskies. Young and Hasyn led off the assault with a 8-1 win in the No. 3 bout. Hanzlik and Welnetz followed, sealing the doubles point with another 8-1 triumph. Cohen and junior C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich.) capped off a doubles sweep with an 8-2 victory over Ricky Dove and Jeff Nuhfer in first doubles.
With the first point in-hand, Hasyn took to the court in the second singles bout. The co-captain easily dispatched of Nuhfer, 6-1, 6-2, to give the Lions a 2-0 lead. Griffin followed, picking up his first singles victory of the spring season in a 6-1, 6-1 decision over Tyler Pultro. Finally, Young took down Mike DiSanto in third singles (6-0, 6-2) to seal the doubleheader split.
After Penn State had clinched the match, junior Guanhua Chen (Dalian, China) overpowered Evan Carney, 6-2, 6-0, in the No. 5 dual, picking up his first victory of the season.
From there, Bader took down State College native, Ricky Dove in first singles (6-3, 7-5). Finally, freshman Ramy Labna (Doha, Qatar) dropped his first career singles match, 2-6, 6-2, 7-10.
Final Score: Penn State 6 def. Bloomsburg 1
Doubles:
1. Taylor Cohen/C.J. Griffin (PSU) def. Ricky Dove/Jeff Nuhfer (BLOOM), 8-2
2. Tomas Hanzlik/Bryan Welnetz (PSU) def. Tyler Pultro/Mike DiSanto (BLOOM), 8-1
3. Chris Young/Christopher Hasyn (PSU) def. Evan Carney/Andres Prince (BLOOM), 8-1
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles:
1. Russell Bader (PSU) def. Ricky Dove (BLOOM), 6-3, 7-5
2. Christopher Hasyn (PSU) def. Jeff Nuhfer (BLOOM), 6-1, 6-2
3. Chris Young (PSU) def. Mike DiSanto (BLOOM), 6-0, 6-2
4. C.J. Griffin (PSU) def. Tyler Pultro (BLOOM), 6-1, 6-1
5. Guanhua Chen (PSU) def. Evan Carney (BLOOM), 6-2, 6-0
6. Andres Prince (BLOOM) def. Ramy Labna (PSU), 6-2, 2-6, 10-7
Order of finish: 2, 4, 3, 5, 1, 6
The Nittany Lions will continue a nine-match homestand Saturday, Feb. 4, with a doubleheader at the Indoor Tennis Center. The action will begin with a 10 a.m. start against Buffalo. The day will conclude with a 3 p.m. meeting against Bucknell. Admission is free and pizza will be available for all fans free of charge.