April 26, 2012
CHICAGO, Ill.; -
The Penn State men's tennis team (11-14, 1-11) closed out its season Thursday afternoon at Northwestern's Vandy Christie Tennis Center with a 4-2 loss to the No. 6 seed host Northwestern Wild Cats. Senior Taylor Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.) and junior Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) each earned singles wins in a match that was much closer than the final score would indicate.
Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) and junior C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich.) opened the match with an 8-3 loss in No. 3 doubles to Tobias Reitz and Sidarth Balaji. The Nittany Lion's superb first doubles team, No. 23 senior Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) and sophomore Russell Bader (Austin, Texas), followed with an 8-6 victory over No. 76 Joshua Graves and Spencer Wolf to even the match at 1-1. The duo's victory pushed their record to 14-1 on the season, including a perfect, 6-0, record against ranked opponents. Welnetz and Cohen then fell to Raleigh Smith and Alex Pasareanu on court two (8-6) to give Northwestern the first point of the match.
After falling behind 1-0, Welnetz responded, breathing life back into Penn State. The junior standout took down Pasareanu, 6-4, 6-0 on court five to even the match at 1-1. Then, red-shirt junior Christopher Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.) fell to Chris Jackman in sixth singles (6-2, 3-6, 6-3). After that, Cohen rallied the Nittany Lions one more time. The senior co-captain upended Balaji in a back and forth affair on court four, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
With the match tied at 2-2, Bader squared off against Smith. Smith got the best of Bader in the first set, 7-5, but Bader responded in the second set, dominating Smith to the tune of a 6-3 set victory. Smith was too much though, handing Bader a 6-2 third set defeat.
Finally, the match came down to Lee. Lee dropped his first set to Graves, 6-3. The senior co-captain refused to give up though, fighting back to win the second set, 6-4. It then came down to a decisive third set. Lee and Graves traded blows, but in the end, Graves emerged victorious, 6-4. With the win, Northwestern clinched its fourth point of the match and advanced to take on the No. 3-seed Illinois Fighting Illini on Friday afternoon. Hanzlik's second singles bout against No. 120 Wolf was left unfinished at 7-5, 4-6, 2-2.
Penn State will return home and await word of whether any team members have earned the right to compete in NCAA Tournament competition. The Big Ten Tournament wraps up with a championship duel on Sunday, April 29.
#43 Northwestern 4, Penn State 2:
Doubles:
1. #23 Jason Lee/Russell Bader (PSU) def. #76 Josh Graves/Spencer Wolf (NU) 8-6
2. Raleigh Smith/Alex Pasareanu (NU) def. Bryan Welnetz/Taylor Cohen (PSU) 8-6
3. Tobias Reitz/Sidarth Balaji (NU) def. Tomas Hanzlik/CJ Griffin (PSU) 8-3
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles:
1. Josh Graves (NU) def. Jason Lee (PSU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
2. #120 Spencer Wolf (NU) vs. Tomas Hanzlik (PSU) 7-5, 4-6, 2-2, unfinished
3. Raleigh Smith (NU) def. Russell Bader (PSU) 7-5, 3-6, 6-2
4. Taylor Cohen (PSU) def. Sidarth Balaji (NU) 6-3, 7-6 (4)
5. Bryan Welnetz (PSU) def. Alex Pasareanu (NU) 6-4, 6-0
6. Chris Jackman (NU) def. Christopher Hasyn (PSU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Order of finish: 5, 6, 4, 3, 1