March 25, 2012
West Lafayette, Ind. - The Penn State men's tennis team (10-6, 0-3) fell to No. 70 Purdue (7-7, 1-1) in the final match of a six-match road stretch, 5-2. Senior Taylor Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.) and sophomore Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) earned singles wins for the Nittany Lions during a hard-fought contest.
Penn State started the day slowly, dropping all three doubles matches to the Boilermakers. Bader and sophomore Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) dropped the No. 2 doubles match to Krisztian Krocsko and Szymon Tatarczyk, 8-4. Purdue then clinched the doubles point when junior C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich.) and red-shirt junior Christopher Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.) fell to Mark Kovacs and Pawel Poziomski on court three, 8-3.
After dropping the opening point of the match, the Nittany Lions looked to draw even with the Boilermakers in singles play. Cohen began the comeback attempt for Penn State on court three. He could not best Krocsko in the first set, falling 6-3. The senior co-captain would not be denied though, rebounding to win sets two and three (6-4, 6-2) and evening the match at 1-1.
Freshman Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) then fell to Kovacs in a tightly contested first singles match, 4-6, 6-2, 2-6, to give Purdue a 2-1 lead. Following the loss, Bader responded once more for Penn State. The sophomore earned his 11th win of the season with a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (2) triumph over Tatarczyk to even the match at 2-2.
The Nittany Lions then turned to Hasyn on court six. Hasyn jumped out to 5-1 first set lead before allowing Poziomski to even the set at 5-5. The red-shirt junior then powered his way to a 7-5 first set victory. Poziomski took the second set, 6-3, before the Boilermakers' sixth contestant took a hotly contested third set, 7-5.
Penn State's final hope came down to junior Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) in fourth singles. The Texan took his set, 6-4, but fell to Diego Acosta, 6-2, in the second set. Acosta then powered past Welnetz, 6-4, in the third set to clinch the bout for Purdue. After the match had been clinched, Young fell to Aaron Dujovne, 7-5, 3-6, 5-7.
Following a 2-4 road trip, the Nittany Lions return home for their Big Ten home opener next weekend. Penn State begins the weekend with a bout against the Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday, March 30 at 5:30 p.m. Weather permitting; the Nittany Lions will play their first outdoor home match of the season at the Sarni Tennis Center against the Hawkeyes. Admission is free for all matches at both the Sarni and Indoor Tennis Centers. Free pizza will be provided to all fans in attendance.
Doubles:
1. Diego Acosta/Aaron Dujovne (PUR) def. Taylor Cohen/Bryan Welnetz (PSU), 8-4
2. Krisztian Krocsko/Szymon Tatarczyk (PUR) def. Russell Bader/Chris Young (PSU), 8-4
3. Mark Kovacs/Pawel Poziomski (PUR) def. CJ Griffin/Christopher Hasyn (PSU), 8-3
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles:
1. Mark Kovacs (PUR) def. Tomas Hanzlik (PSU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
2. Russell Bader (PSU) def. Szymon Tatarczyk (PUR) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (2)
3. Taylor Cohen (PSU) def. Krisztian Krocsko (PUR) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
4. Diego Acosta (PUR) def. Bryan Welnetz (PSU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
5. Aaron Dujovne (PUR) def. Chris Young (PSU) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
6. Pawel Poziomski (PUR) def. Christopher Hasyn (PSU) 5-7, 6-3, 7-5
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2, 6, 4, 5