Jan. 28, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
The Penn State men's tennis team (2-1) rebounded from an opening day loss, sweeping a home doubleheader against St. Bonaventure (0-1) and Lehigh (0-1) by identical 7-0 scores. Four Nittany Lions earned four victories apiece on the day, spearheading a complete team effort.
"This doubleheader provided exactly what we needed," said head coach Jeff Zinn. "We needed to find a winning attitude leading up to a very important contest on Wednesday evening against No. 63 Princeton. We are behind in matches played, but are slowly starting to catch up to other teams. You need wins to help the mental side of tennis and these matches achieved all that we were looking for."
Penn State 7, St. Bonaventure 0
The Nittany Lions opened a nine-match homestand in style, sweeping St. Bonaventure in the first match of a Saturday doubleheader, 7-0. The Lions started quickly, over-powering the Bonnies in doubles play.
Juniors C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich.) and Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) set the tempo, taking down Miguel Suarez and Javier Ortiz in second doubles, 8-0. Then, freshman Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) and sophomore Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) secured the doubles point in No. 3 doubles against Trevor Haskell and Elliot Fanshell with an equally dominating, 8-1 decision. Senior Taylor Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.) and red-shirt junior Christopher Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.) rounded out the doubles sweep with an 8-5 victory in the No. 1 doubles bout over Luis Guevara and Oscar Yanez.
After earning the first point of the match, the Nittany Lions continued their stellar outing in singles play. Cohen kicked off the second stanza by taking a 5-0 first set lead and a 4-0 second set lead before eventually putting away Ortiz (6-1, 6-2). Senior Jason Lee (Sydney, Australia) fell into lockstep against Yanez in the No. 1 singles bout. The Aussie took the first 10 games of the match, including a 6-0 sweep in the first set. Leading 4-0 in the second set, Lee battled with Yanez before eventually taking the set, 6-3.
With the Nittany Lions leading 3-0, Hanzlik's match on court three took center stage. The freshman, ranked No. 80 in the ITA singles rankings, battled through tough competition from Fanshell to take the first set, 6-4. The freshman competed exceptionally in the second set, overpowering Fanshel, 6-2, earning his first collegiate victory and securing the match with Penn State's fourth point.
After the match had been decided, Bader took down Guevara (6-3, 6-1), Welnetz defeated Suarez (6-3, 6-2), and Hasyn was victorious against Haskell (6-0, 6-1), which clinched a sweep in the day's opening match.
Final Score: Penn State 7 def. St. Bonaventure 0
Doubles:
1. Taylor Cohen/Christopher Hasyn (PSU) def. Luis Guevara/Oscar Yanez (SBU), 8-5
2. C.J. Griffin/Bryan Welnetz (PSU) def. Miguel Suarez/Javier Ortiz (SBU), 8-0
3. Tomas Hanzlik/Russell Bader (PSU) def. Trevor Haskell/Elliot Fanshel, 8-1
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles:
1. Jason Lee (PSU) def. Oscar Yanez (SBU), 6-0, 6-3
2. Russell Bader (PSU) def. Luis Guevara (SBU), 6-3, 6-1
3. Tomas Hanzlik (PSU) def. Elliot Fanshel, 6-4, 6-2
4. Taylor Cohen (PSU) def. Javier Ortiz (SBU), 6-1, 6-2
5. Bryan Welnetz (PSU) def. Miguel Suarez (SBU), 6-3, 6-2
6. Christopher Hasyn (PSU) def. Trevor Haskell (SBU), 6-0, 6-1Order of finish: 4, 1, 3, 2, 5, 6
Penn State 7, Lehigh 0
In the second match of the doubleheader, the Nittany Lions (1-1) jumped out to a strong start again, sweeping the double matches to take a quick, 1-0 lead. Penn State then went on to sweep singles play to earn a second-straight 7-0 win.
In doubles action, Lee and Bader teamed up in No. 1 doubles, earning an 8-1 victory over Mark Goldberg and Mitchell Peterson. Cohen and Hasyn followed suit in second doubles, posting an 8-1 win over Matt Savran and Ben Gilman to clinch the double point. Griffin and Welnetz completed the sweep with an 8-4 third doubles triumph.
With the lead and momentum once again, the Nittany Lions turned to singles actions. In the No. 3 duel, Cohen took the first 11 games before Savran managed to earn his first point. Cohen continued rolling, though, en route to a 6-0, 6-1 triumph. Next, Welnetz took on upset-minded Ben Gilman in fourth singles. The duo battled to a 5-5 tie in the first set before Welnetz took the next two games and iced the set. He swept the second set, 6-0, and gave the Nittany Lions a 3-0 lead.
Looking to clinch the match, court two became the center of attention as Hanzlik challenged Peterson looking to bring home Penn State's second victory of the afternoon. The Czech native battled Peterson tooth and nail before taking the first set, 6-4. The second set was a different story though. Hanzlik definitively took the second set, 6-1,and finish all hopes the Mountain Hawks had of a comeback.
Once the match had been decided, Hasyn took 12-of-13 games from Krentz (6-1, 6-0) in fifth singles to improve to 2-0 on the day. Bader battled Goldberg through two difficult sets, taking the first set 7-6 (4) from the Lehigh ace before dismissing Goldberg, 7-5, in the second set. Finally, sophomore Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) defeated Daniel Goldblum in sixth singles, 6-3, 6-2, to close out the second sweep of the afternoon.
Final Score: Penn State 7 def. Lehigh 0
Doubles:
1. Jason Lee/Russell Bader (PSU) def. Mark Goldberg/Mitchell Peterson (Lehigh), 8-1
2. Taylor Cohen/Christopher Hasyn (PSU) def. Matt Savran/Ben Gilman (Lehigh), 8-1
3. C.J. Griffin/Bryan Welnetz (PSU) def. Andrew Krentz/Timur Chernykh (Lehigh), 8-4
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles:
1. Russell Bader (PSU) vs. Mark Goldberg (Lehigh), 7-6 (4), 7-5
2. Tomas Hanzlik (PSU) vs. Mitchell Peterson (Lehigh), 6-4, 6-1
3. Taylor Cohen (PSU) vs. Matt Savran (Lehigh), 6-0, 6-1
4. Bryan Welnetz (PSU) vs. Ben Gilman (Lehigh), 7-5, 6-0
5. Christopher Hasyn (PSU) vs. Andrew Krentz (Lehigh), 6-1, 6-0
6. Chris Young (PSU) vs. Daniel Goldblum (Lehigh), 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 4, 2, 5, 1, 6
Penn State will continue its homestand Wednesday, Feb. 1 when No. 63 Princeton comes to Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions are looking to avenge a narrow, 4-3, loss to the Tigers last season. The action will begin at 5:30 p.m. Admission is free for all fans.