April 22, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's tennis team (11-13, 1-10) closed out its regular season with a 5-2 loss to Michigan State (17-10, 6-5) Sunday afternoon at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center. Senior co-captain Taylor Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.) closed out what was possibly his final home match with a fourth singles victory shortly after senior day celebrations concluded. Senior Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) also moved into a tie for fourth place in all-time doubles victories after picking up his 68th career triumph Sunday afternoon.
Lee and sophomore Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) opened up the doubles portion of the match in resounding fashion. The nation's No. 31 tandem overpowered Michigan State's No. 88 Aaron Pfister and Drew Lied, 8-1. Michigan State evened the tally in second doubles as junior Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) and Cohen fell to Austin Brooks and Harry Jadun, 8-4. Finally, freshman Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) and junior C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich.) dropped their match on court three to Denis Bogatov and Gijs Linders, 8-6, giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
After falling behind 1-0 early, Penn State turned to Cohen in hopes of leveling the score. The co-captain mowed down Brooks on court four, earning a 6-2, 6-3 win, which also gave Penn State its first point of the day. Lee could not hold the momentum in Penn State's direction though, dropping his No. 1 bout to Pfister, 6-4, 6-2.
Hanzlik jumped out to an early first set lead (2-0) against Bogatov. The freshman could not close the deal though, dropping the set, 7-5. He then fell, 6-1, in the second set, giving the Spartans a 3-1 lead. Then, Michigan State clinched the match in fourth singles. Bader handily defeated Ron Hulewicz in the duo's first frame, 6-0. Hulewicz then took the next two sets by identical 6-3 scores to seal the match.
Once the match had been decided, Welnetz took down Lied, 6-2, 6-1 in fifth singles. Finally, red-shirt junior Christopher Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.) fell to Linders 6-3, 3-6, 6-10 to bring the regular season to a close.
The Nittany Lions will now look ahead to a first round showdown in the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday, April 26. Penn State will be the 11th seed and will take on the No. 6 seed in the final conference standings. The tournament will conclude on Sunday, April 29.
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#64 Michigan State 5, Penn State 2:
Doubles:
No. 1 - #31 Jason Lee/Russell Bader (PSU) def. #88 Aaron Pfister/Drew Lied (MSU), 8-1
No. 2 - Austin Brooks/Harry Jadun (MSU) def. Bryan Welnetz/Taylor Cohen (PSU), 8-4
No. 3 - Dennis Bogatov/Gijs Linders (MSU) def. Tomas Hanzlik/C.J. Griffin (PSU), 8-6
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles:
No. 1 - Aaron Pfister (MSU) def. Jason Lee (PSU), 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 - Denis Bogatov (MSU) def. Tomas Hanzlik (PSU), 7-5, 6-1
No. 3 - Ron Hulewicz (MSU) def. Russell Bader (PSU), 0-6, 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 -- Taylor Cohen (PSU) def. Austin Brooks (MSU), 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 -- Bryan Welnetz (PSU) def. Drew Lied, 6-2, 6-1
No. 6 - Gijs Linders (MSU) def. Christopher Hasyn (PSU), 3-6, 6-3, 10-6
Order of finish: 4, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6