April 12, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State Nittany Lions (11-9,1-6) return home to the Sarni Tennis Center this weekend looking to take advantage of a huge opportunity. The Lions will open the weekend looking to improve their seeding in the Big Ten Tournament with a tough test against the No. 46 Northwestern Wildcats (12-7, 5-2) on Friday, April 13 at 3 p.m. The team will wrap up the weekend against the No. 23 Illinois Fighting Illini (12-4, 6-1) on Sunday, April 15 at 11 a.m. Admission is free and pizza will be available for all fans in attendance.
Last Sunday, Penn State fell to Wisconsin, 5-2, in its second consecutive road thriller. After splitting the first two doubles bouts, junior C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich.) and red-shirt junior Christopher Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.) nearly clinched the first point for Penn State, but ultimately dropped the tiebreaker, 9-8 (8), giving Wisconsin a 1-0 lead. Hasyn and freshman sensation Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) each earned singles triumphs to pull the Nittany Lions even at 2-2, but Wisconsin took control from there. The Badgers clinched the last three singles matches en route to a 5-2 victory over the Nittany Lions.
Penn State's No. 1 doubles duo, senior Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) and sophomore Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) remain among the nation's top doubles teams in the latest ITA Top-75 doubles poll. The poll released on April 10 lists the tandem at No. 27. Lee and Bader, who boast an 11-1 overall record and a 3-0 mark against ranked opponents, rose as high as No. 19 in the March 13 edition of the ITA poll. Lee has been sidelined for the past three weeks due to injury.
Lee continues to climb the all-time doubles victories chart. The senior co-captain currently claims sole possession of sixth place on Penn State's career doubles wins list after teaming with Bader to clinch an 11th victory of the season. With a triumph this weekend Lee will tie Michael Carter (1993-1997) and Mark Dorfman (1995-2000) for fifth place with 67 wins. If Lee can earn two victories this weekend he will move into a three-man tie for fourth place all-time with 68 wins.
Since moving up to the No. 1 singles position three weeks ago, Hanzlik has been on a tear. The freshman lost his first two matches, but has been on a four-match winning streak since, including a 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 comeback victory over No. 79 Christopher Aumeller of Nebraska. Hanzlik is now tied with Bader for second on the squad in singles victories with 12 wins. Senior Taylor Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.) leads the Nittany Lions with 13 triumphs on the season.
The Northwestern Wildcats enter their 20th match of season looking to inch closer to second place in the Big Ten standings. Head coach Arvid Swan has the Wildcats firing on all cylinders as the team has posted a 5-1 record over its last six matches. No. 107 Spencer Wolf leads Northwestern in singles play. Wolf is 13-6 entering the weekend, including a 1-2 mark against nationally ranked foes. Raleigh Smith has also posted 14 wins for the Wildcats. In doubles play, Josh Graves and Wolf have gone toe-to-toe with some of the Big Ten's best, posting a 9-5 overall record and 1-2 record against nationally ranked opponents.
Led by sixth-year head coach Brad Dancer, the Illini head to Happy Valley in the midst of a hot streak, having earned seven victories in their last eight attempts. Illinois boasts a wealth of talent, including three-time Big Ten player of the week, No. 5 Dennis Nevolo. Nevolo has earned 13 wins over nationally ranked opponents this season and is 7-2 in his last nine matches. No. 38 Roy Kalmanovich joins the senior in the ITA singles rankings. The tandem also pairs to form Illinois' top doubles duo, which is ranked 25th in the nation currently. Nevolo also joins Farris Gosea in the doubles rankings at No. 75.
Following the weekend homestand, the Nittany Lions will conclude regular season play next weekend with two matches. Penn State will open the weekend with a road match at Michigan on Friday, April 20 at 4 p.m. The Nittany Lions will then wrap up their home schedule on Sunday, April 18 with a bout against the Michigan State Spartans at noon. Admission is free for all matches held at the Sarni Tennis Center and Indoor Tennis Center. Free pizza will be served to all fans in attendance.
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