Sept. 29, 2013
ANNAPOLIS, Md./TULSA, Okla. - The Penn State men's tennis team finished up the Navy All-Conference Tournament on Sunday. The Nittany Lions went 2-2 in singles and 1-1 in doubles against Indiana. Penn State finished the three-day tournament with a combined record of 11-2 in singles and 4-2 in doubles. At the ITA All-American Championships, Tomas Hanzlik advanced to the final round of the Pre-Qualifying Draw.
Senior Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) starts play in the Qualifying Singles Draw on Monday. He faces Santa Clara's John Lamble in the first round. Lamble is the 14th-seed in the draw.
After a straight set win in the first round of Pre-Qualifying, Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) had a tougher test ahead against Purdue's Syzmon Tatarczyk, who entered the championships as the No. 10 seed in the draw. After dropping the first set, 4-6, Hanzlik responded in the second set with a 6-2 advantage. Hanzlik came out on top in the third set, 6-3 to clinch a trip to the third round. Hanzlik faced UTSA's Yannick Junger in the third round and continued his momentum, winning 6-4, 6-4.
Hanzlik advanced to the final round of the Pre-Qualifying Draw, where he takes on UC Irvine's Tyler Pham on Monday morning. If Hanzlik wins, he will advance to the Qualifying Singles Draw, that also starts tomorrow.
Marc Collado Castells (Barcelona, Spain) competed against Florida's Elliott Orkin in the second round. The freshman earned a three set comeback win on Saturday, but fell 6-2, 6-3 on Sunday.
Another freshman, Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) earned a spot in the second round after a win over SMU's Eduardo Razzeto in the first round. On Sunday, Fennell took on East Tennessee State's Rogerio Ribeiro, the sixth seed in the draw. In the first set, Ribeiro won 6-2, but Fennell fought back with a 6-4 win in set two. In the final set, Ribeiro claimed the match, 6-4. Fennell went 1-1 this weekend.
Junior Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) participated in a Pre-Qualifying Bonus Match, where he defeated UTSA's Harley Pearson, 6-3, 6-3. Reilly finished the weekend with a 1-1 record.
In the Navy All-Conference Tournament, the Penn State/Arkansas combined team took on Indiana in the final match of the tournament. After the match, Penn State earned Flight Champion honors at No. 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 singles and No. 3 doubles. Six flight champions were the most of the four schools at the tournament. Princeton had four flight champions. Arkansas, Indiana and Navy each had one.
Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) entered the day with a 2-0 record, but could not earn a third straight win, falling 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to Daniel Bednarczyk. Despite the loss, Trkulja was named the flight champion at No. 1 singles.
Sophomore Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) completed a perfect weekend. He knocked off Stefan Lugonjic, 7-5, 6-2 to improve to 3-0. Barry earned flight champion honors at No. 3 singles. It's the second straight year that Barry started the fall with a 3-0 mark.
David Kohan (Sydney, Australia) won his first set of his match, 7-5, against Matthew McCoy. However, McCoy came back with a 7-5 win in the second set and continued his momentum with a 6-0 win in set three. Kohan was still named the flight champion at No. 5 singles and finished the weekend 2-1.
Freshman Nika Dolidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) also capped off a perfect weekend with a 6-1, 6-1 win over George Rivers. Dolidze went 3-0 to claim flight champion at No. 7 singles.
Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) did not play singles on Sunday, but earned flight champion at No. 9 singles for his win on Saturday against Princeton.
Barry and Kohan paired up again at No. 3 doubles and knocked off Lugonjic and Alekzander Davila, 8-6, to finish the weekend at 3-0. The duo earned flight champion for the third doubles spot.
Lutschaunig and Trkulja combined again at No. 1 doubles, but came up short, 8-7(7-2), against Bednarczyk and Chris Essick.
For continued coverage of the ITA All-American Championships, please check back to gopsusports.com. Updates will also be available on our Facebook, Penn State Men's Tennis, and Twitter, @pennstateMTEN, pages.
ITA All-American Championships:
Pre-Qualifying Draw:
Bonus) Michael Reilly(PSU) def. Harley Pearson(UTSA), 6-3, 6-3.
2nd Round) Tomas Hanzlik(PSU) def. Syzmon Tatarczyk(Purdue), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Elliott Orkin(UF) def. Marc Collado Castells(PSU), 6-2, 6-3.
Rogerio Ribeiro(ETSU) def. Alex Fennell(PSU), 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
3rd Round) Tomas Hanzlik(PSU) def. Yannick Junger(UTSA), 6-4, 6-4.
Navy All-Conference Tournament:
Doubles:
1. Bednarczyk/Essick(Ind) def. Lutschaunig/Trkulja(PSU), 8-7(7-2).
3. Barry/Kohan(PSU) def. Davila/Lugonjic(Ind), 8-6.
Singles:
1. Daniel Bednarczyk(Ind) def. Roman Trkulja(PSU), 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
3. Matt Barry(PSU) def. Stefan Lugonjic(Ind), 7-5, 6-2.
5. Matthew McCoy(Ind) def. David Kohan(PSU), 5-7, 7-5, 6-0.
7. Nika Dolidze(PSU) def. George Rivers(Ind), 6-1, 6-1.
Flight Champions:
Doubles:
1. Austin Jones / Thomas Pecor, Navy
2. Augie Bloom / Jonathan Carcione, Princeton
3. Matt Barry / David Kohan, Penn State
4. Matt McCoy / George Rivers, Indiana
Singles:
1. Roman Trkulja, Penn State
2. Thomas Colautti, Princeton
3. Matt Barry, Penn State
4. Alex Day, Princeton
5. David Kohan, Penn State
6. Johan den Toom, Arkansas
7. Nika Dolidze, Penn State
8. Josh Yablon, Princeton
9. Christian Lutschaunig, Penn State