Nov. 9, 2013
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The Penn State men's tennis team defeated Harvard today at the William & Mary Invitational. Penn State beat Harvard in the doubles flights, before winning at three of the top six singles flights. A few members of the Penn State team also took on players from William & Mary and Old Dominion.
Harvard finished last spring ranked 28th in the final ITA Poll.
"Today was a great day for our program, beating a team with the caliber of Harvard." said Assistant Coach Chris Cagle. "That says a lot about us. Our guys have been working hard and it was nice to get a win like this on the final weekend of our fall schedule. We will look to finish strong tomorrow and give us some momentum towards the spring, where we have big goals."
At No. 1 singles, Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) took on Sebastian Beltrame. After falling 6-1 in the first set, Bader came back with a 6-2 win in the second set. In the third set, Bader came out on top, 6-3. Bader is 2-0 so far this weekend.
Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) clinched the win by defeating Andrew Ball at the third singles spot. Barry won the first set, 6-2, but Ball responded with a 6-4 win in the second set. Barry took the third set 6-4. Barry is also 2-0 this weekend.
At No. 4 singles, Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) earned a straight-set win 6-1, 6-4 over Alex Steinroeder.
At No. 1 doubles, Bader and Barry paired up to knock off Steinroeder and Casey MacMaster in a tough battle, 8-7(6). The Penn State duo also took on William & Mary's Aaron Chaffee and Will Juggins, claiming an 8-6 victory.
At the third doubles spot, David Kohan (Sydney, Australia) and Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) teamed up to defeat Conor Haughey and Shaun Chaudhuri, 8-4.
Another doubles pair, Marc Collado Castells (Barcelona, Spain) and Nika Dolidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) earned an 8-7(1) win against Old Dominion's Darragh Glavin and Zvonimir Podvinski.
At no. 2 doubles, Trkulja and Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) combined against Beltrame and Christo Schultz, but fell 8-5. They also competed against Old Dominion's Jonas Kuwert and Keon Wiggemans, but came up short, 8-6.
At the second singles spot, Reilly faced Chaudhuri, but fell 6-4, 6-4. At no. 5 singles, Collado Castells took on Nicky Hu. Collado Castells took the first set, 6-4, but Hu got the second set, 6-5(3). In the third set, Hu came out on top, 6-1.
Kohan competed at no. 6 singles, where he faced Brian Yeung, but fell 6-3, 6-3.
Freshman Dolidze and Christian Lutschaunig also played singles matches. Dolidze met Haughey at the singles flight seven. Haughey won the first set, 6-5, but Dolidze came back with a 6-4 win in the second set. Haughey took the tiebreaker set, 10-7.
Lutschaunig took on William & Mary's Ben Hoogland, but could not get the win, dropping a 6-1, 6-5(5) battle.
Please check back to gopsusports.com throughout the weekend for more coverage of the William & Mary Invitational. Updates will also be available on our Facebook page, Penn State Men's Tennis, and Twitter page, @pennstateMTEN.
Penn State vs. Harvard
Doubles:
1. Bader/Barry(PSU) def. MacMaster/Steinroeder(Harvard), 8-7(6).
2. Beltrame/Schultz(Harvard) def. Reilly/Trkulja(PSU), 8-5.
3. Kohan/Lutschaunig(PSU) def. Chaudhuri/Haughey(Harvard), 8-4.
Singles:
1. Russell Bader(PSU) def. Sebastian Beltrame(Harvard), 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.
2. Shaun Chaudhuri(Harvard) def. Michael Reilly(PSU), 6-4, 6-4.
3. Matt Barry(PSU) def. Andrew Ball(Harvard), 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
4. Roman Trkulja(PSU) def. Alex Steinroeder(Harvard), 6-1, 6-4.
5. Nicky Hu(Harvard) def. Marc Collado Castells(PSU), 4-6. 6-5(3), 6-1.
6. Brian Yeung(Harvard) def. David Kohan(PSU), 6-3, 6-3.
Penn State vs. William & Mary/Old Dominion
Doubles:
Bader/Barry(PSU) def. Chaffee/Juggins(W&M), 8-6.
Kuwert/Wiggemans(ODU) def. Reilly/Trkulja(PSU), 8-6.
Collado Castells/Dolidze(PSU) def. Glavin/Podvinski(ODU), 8-7(1).
Singles:
Ben Hoogland (W&M) def. Christian Lutschaunig(PSU), 6-1, 6-5(5).
Conor Haughey(Harvard) def. Nika Dolidze(PSU), 6-5, 4-6, 10-7.