April 6, 2012
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Penn State men's tennis team (11-8, 1-5) opened its weekend road swing through the Midwest with a hard-fought battle against the No. 47 Minnesota Golden Gophers (9-5, 4-2). Freshman Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) and red-shirt junior Christopher Hasyn (Lansdale, Pa.) earned gritty singles victories for Penn State, but the Nittany Lions could not overcome a strong effort in singles by the Gophers, falling, 5-2.
"We played really well today," said head coach Jeff Zinn. "It was a good match and we competed well against a good opponent."
Penn State opened the doubles portion of the match slowly. Junior C.J. Griffin (Portland, Mich.) and Hasyn fell to No. 22 Rok Bonin and Julian Dehn in first doubles, 8-3. Sophomore Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) and junior Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) responded for the Lions on court two with an, 8-6, win over Phillip Arndt and Jack Hamburg. Senior Taylor Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Hanzlik took Juan Pablo Ramirez and Leandro Toledo to the wire, pushing their way to a tie-breaker in third doubles. Ramirez and Toledo outlasted the Lion's spirited fight though, earning a, 9-8 (5), point-sealing victory for the Gophers.
Sophomore Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) led off singles play with a loss to Hamburg in the No. 6 singles contest (6-1, 6-3). Next, it was Hanzlik's turn to bring Penn State back from the brink against Bonin. The freshman sensation opened with an easy, 6-2, first serve win. Bonin would not go quietly though. The pair battled back and forth, ultimately heading to a decisive tie-breaker. Hanzlik jumped ahead for good and finished off his 11th victory of the season with a 7-4 breaker triumph to give the Nittany Lions their first point of the day.
Trailing 2-1, Penn State turned to Bader in hopes of pulling even with the Gophers. Bader dropped a highly contentious opening set, 6-4. The Texan showed his determination in the second set, picking apart No. 80 Toledo, 6-3, to force a third set. Ultimately, Bader could not overcome a strong third set effort from Toledo, falling, 6-4, and giving the Gophers a 3-1 lead.
With the match on the line, Welnetz stepped into the spotlight. He competed hard, but in the end fell to Dehn, 6-3, 6-4, clinching the fourth and decisive point for Minnesota. After the match had been decided, Cohen fell to Arndt, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 3-10, and Hasyn picked up his 11th win of the season with a 3-6, 7-6 (6), 10-4 victory over Michael Sicora in fifth singles.
The Nittany Lions will continue their road swing on Sunday, April 8 when they take on the Wisconsin Badgers at noon.
#47 Minnesota 5, Penn State 2:
Doubles:
1. No. 22 Rok Bonin/Julian Dehn (MINN) def. C.J. Griffin/Christopher Hasyn (PSU) 8-3
2. Russell Bader/Bryan Welnetz (PSU) def. Phillip Arndt/Jack Hamburg (MINN) 8-6
3. Juan Pablo Ramirez/Leandro Toledo (MINN) vs. Taylor Cohen/Tomas Hanzlik (PSU) 9-8 (5)
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles:
1. Tomas Hanzlik (PSU) def. Rok Bonin (MINN) 6-2, 7-6 (4)
2. No. 80 Leandro Toledo (MINN) def. Russell Bader (PSU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
3. Phillip Arndt (MINN) def. Taylor Cohen (PSU) 6-7 (4), 6-4, 10-3
4. Julian Dehn (MINN) def. Bryan Welnetz (PSU) 6-3, 6-4
5. Christopher Hasyn (PSU) def. Michael Sicora (MINN) 3-6, 7-6 (6), 10-4
6. Jack Hamburg (MINN) def. Chris Young (PSU) 6-1, 6-3
Order of finish: 6, 1, 2, 4, 3, 5