Sept. 14, 2012
PRINCETON, N.J. - The Penn State men's tennis team finished up the first day of matches at the 2012 Farnsworth/Princeton Invitational. Four Nittany Lions competed, with freshman Matt Barry(Lido Beach, N.Y.) highlighting the performances. Action resumes tomorrow morning at 8:30 at the Lenz Tennis Center.
Entering his first collegiate action, Barry began the day in the 6th spot in the "Cordish" Draw. He opened his performance with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Buffalo's Ivan Vereschaga. He followed that up with a quarterfinal win over Farleigh Dickinson's Ibrahim Shams 6-3, 6-2. Barry will face Princeton's Matt Spindler at 9:00 tomorrow in the semifinals.
Junior Chris Young(Melbourne, Australia), competing in the number nine spot in the "Lenz" Draw, won his first match of the fall, defeating Fairleigh Dickinson's Peter Skvarka 6-2, 6-3. In the quarterfinals, he fell to St. John's Mike Lampa 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
Sophomore Ramy Labna(Doha, Qatar) went 2-1 on the day in singles action, while competing in the 14th spot in the "Pagoda" Draw. Labna fell in the first round to Cornell's Brett Cromwell 6-2, 6-3. He responded with two wins in the consolation bracket. The first win came over Farleigh Dickinson's Dom Devaux-Lowell 4-6, 6-1, 1-0(3). In the consolation second round, Labna knocked off Penn's Jason Magnes. He will face Binghamton's Elliot Hureau in the consolation semifinals, beginning at 10:30 tomorrow.
C.J. Griffin(Portland, Mich.) entered the day in the sixth spot in the "Tiger" Draw. He fell in the first round to Yale's Marc Powers 6-0, 6-3. The senior will begin consolation play tomorrow at 10:00.
In doubles "A" action, Barry and Griffin paired up in the fifth matchup in the bracket. However, they were defeated by Yale's Patrick Chase and John Huang 8-2. They will compete in the consolation bracket tomorrow.
Labna and Young combined in doubles "B" in the 11th matchup, but fell to Yale's Daniel Faierman and Matt Saiontz 8-3.
Singles: Lenz Draw Round 1) Chris Young(PSU) def. Peter Skvarka(FDU), 6-2, 6-3 Quarterfinal) Mike Lampa(St. John's) def. Chris Young(PSU), 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
Tiger Draw Round 1) Marc Powers(Yale) def. C.J. Griffin(PSU), 6-0, 6-3
Cordish Draw Round 1) Matt Barry(PSU) def. Ivan Vereschaga(Buffalo), 6-4, 6-2 Quarterfinal) Matt Barry(PSU) def. Ibrahim Shams(FDU), 6-3, 6-2
Pagoda Draw Round 1) Brett Cromwell(Cornell) def. Ramy Labna(PSU), 6-2, 6-3 Consolation Round 1) Ramy Labna(PSU) def. Dom Devaux-Lowell(FDU), 4-6, 6-1, 1-0(3) Consolation Quarterfinal) Ramy Labna(PSU) def. Jason Magnes(Penn)
Doubles: Doubles "A" Round 1) Chase/Huang(Yale) def. Barry/Griffin(PSU), 8-2
Doubles "B" Round 1) Faierman/Saiontz(Yale) def. Labna/Young, 8-3