Oct. 5, 2012
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Five members of the Penn State men's tennis team competed on day one of the UVa Fall Classic. The tournament is hosted by the University of Virginia. Penn State picked up a total of four singles wins and one doubles win on the day and three Nittany Lions advanced to their draw quarterfinal. C.J. Griffin(Portland, Mich.) advanced to his consolation semifinal. Day two of the tournament will be held on Saturday, Oct. 6.
In his first round match in the "Blue" Singles Draw, Guanhua Chen(DaLian, China) defeated Norfolk State's Kent Austin 6-0, 6-1. In the quarterfinal, Chen faced George Washington's Leo Lapentti, but fell 6-3, 6-2. On Saturday, Chen will matchup against Duk Young Park from Morgan State at 9:00 a.m. in a Fifth Place bracket battle.
Sophomore Ramy Labna(Doha, Qatar) competed in the "White" Singles bracket. In his first match, he dropped a 6-3, 6-1 result to James Madison's Greg Vladimirsky, the second seed in the draw. In the consolation round, Labna faced Binghamton's Janik Burri, but fell 6-4, 6-2. Labna will face Norfolk State's Sam Lemberger on Saturday at 10:15 a.m.
Matt Barry(Lido Beach, N.Y.) won a tough battle against Norfolk State's Daniel Grauel, 5-7, 6-4, 6-0 in the first round of the "Black" Singles Draw. He then faced the second seeded, Ryan Pool from James Madison, in the quarterfinal and fell 6-3, 6-1. Barry will compete in the Fifth Place bracket on Saturday, with his first match coming against Coastal Carolina's Hunter Whalen at 10:15 a.m.
In the first round of the "Gold" Singles bracket, Chris Young(Melbourne, Australia) faced Norfolk State's Dima Zymantovich and earned a 6-4, 6-0 win. In the quarterfinal, Young lost a tough battle to Liberty's Shea Thomas 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Young will face College of Charleston's Alon Faiman at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday in a Fifth Place bracket matchup.
Senior C.J. Griffin competed in the "Red" Singles Draw. In the first round, he dropped a 6-3, 6-1 result to William & Mary's John Banks. He responded with a tough 3-6, 6-4, 10-6 win over College of Charleston's Josh Record in the consolation round. At 11:45 a.m. on Saturday, Griffin will take on James Madison's Rob Stirling in the consolation semifinal.
Chen and Young paired up in the "Orange" Doubles bracket. They faced Norfolk State's Peter Pello and Igor Braga and won 9-7.
Barry and Griffin also combined and competed in the "Red" Doubles Draw. In the first round, they fell 9-7 to NC Wesleyan's Robert Kjellberg and Artsiom Prostak.
Please check back to gopsusports.com throughout the weekend for updates on the UVa Fall Classic.
Singles:
Blue:
First Round) Guanhua Chen(PSU) def. Kent Austin(NORF ST), 6-0, 6-1
Quarterfinal) Leo Lapentti(GW) def. Guanhua Chen(PSU), 6-3, 6-2
White:
First Round) Greg Vladimirsky(JMU) def. Ramy Labna(PSU), 6-3, 6-1
Consolation Round) Janik Burri(BING) def. Ramy Labna(PSU), 6-4, 6-2
Black:
First Round) Matt Barry(PSU) def. Daniel Grauel(NORF ST), 5-7, 6-4, 6-0
Quarterfinal) Ryan Pool(JMU) def. Matt Barry(PSU), 6-3, 6-1
Gold:
First Round) Chris Young(PSU) def. Dima Zymantovich(NORF ST), 6-4, 6-0
Quarterfinal) Shea Thomas(LIB) def. Chris Young(PSU), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
Red:
First Round) John Banks(W&M) def. C.J. Griffin(PSU), 6-3, 6-1
Consolation Round) C.J. Griffin(PSU) def. Josh Record(CofC), 3-6, 6-4, 10-6
Doubles:
Orange:
First Round) Chen/Young(PSU) def. Pello/Braga(NORF ST), 9-7
Red:
First Round) Kjellberg/Prostak(NCW) def. Barry/Griffin(PSU), 9-7