Feb. 7, 2013
BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Penn State men's tennis team travels to Blacksburg, Va. this weekend to face a tough Virginia Tech team. The Hokies are ranked 46th in the nation and will present a good road test for the Nittany Lions. The match starts at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Virginia Tech is 3-2 so far this spring, including a 7-0 win over Coastal Carolina last weekend. Their losses have come against ranked opponents #37 Northwestern and #46 Middle Tennessee State.
Penn State enters the match with a 4-4 record after sweeping their doubleheader last weekend. The Nittany Lions knocked off Penn 6-1 before shutting out Lehigh 7-0. All four of Penn State's losses have come against ranked opponents.
The Nittany Lions feature four different players with at least five singles wins this fall. Tomas Hanzlik(Prague, Czech Republic) and Russell Bader(Austin, Texas) share the team lead with six wins. Most of Hanzlik's wins have come out of the third spot in the lineup, with Bader's mostly coming in the fourth spot. Bryan Welnetz(Laredo, Texas) has provided a strong presence at the number one spot for the Nittany Lions. The senior has a 5-1 record. Chris Young(Melbourne, Australia) has a 5-0 record this spring, with three of those wins coming out of the fifth spot.
The Penn State doubles pairs went a perfect 6-0 last weekend after switching up the lineups.
The Hokies are led by two ranked players. Andres Bjerrehus holds an 18-5 overall record, including 4-1 this spring and ranks 29th in the ITA Poll. Teammate Amerigo Contini is 4-0 this spring and 16-4 overall. Contini is ranked 56th in the ITA Poll. The duo also combine in doubles, where they have a 4-0 record this spring, 9-4 overall, and are ranked 15th in the nation.
Hunter Koontz, Lucas Oliveira, and Aaron Gomez are also solid contributors for the Hokies. Koontz is 2-2 this spring, 14-6 overall. Oliveira holds a 4-1 record this spring and Gomez is 3-0. Koontz and Oliveira have also combined to go 4-1 in doubles.
Live scoring for the match will be available at http://www.hokiesports.com/mtennis/live/.