Netmen blow out Baylor in windy match

By STEVE FEITL
Collegian Sports Writer

The wind moves the ball around as it flies. The ball bounces a little differently. The weather is always unpredictable.

There are several distinctions to playing tennis outdoors. The men's tennis team spent last week making those adjustments in Texas.

Following four days of practices, the Lions (2-1) defeated Baylor last Thursday in Waco, 6-1.

"It was a big match for us," Lion Coach Jan Bortner said. "Baylor is in the Southwest Conference, and that's one of the power conferences in the country. We knew they'd be good."

While the Lions did not do well in their doubles matches, the singles players combined to win five out of six matches in straight sets.

Bortner was pleased with the effort of his singles players and the team as a whole.

"I thought that it was a good team effort," Bortner said. "Some matches, you might get a good effort from two or three of the guys -- but to beat Baylor by that score, we really needed all six players to play their best. That's why it was such a good win for us."

The win was also important for Penn State following a 6-1 loss to Ohio State on March 4 at the Penn State Tennis Club.

"We had to rebound from our loss against Ohio State," freshman Dale Cathell said. "It was important being down there practicing and getting our game back."

The amount of time that the team spent practicing was one of the reasons the trip was so productive for the Lions.

"It was important practicing every day," Cathell said. "Now, we've got so many hours in that our strokes are just automatic."

The trip also gave the Lions their first opportunity to play outdoors. Due to the elements, outdoor tennis is a different style of play than indoor tennis, Bortner said.

"That's one of the reasons we go on a spring trip -- to get practice time outdoors," he added. "The wind moves the ball around and changes the trajectory of the ball."

The Lions will travel to Philadelphia to play Pennsylvania at 1 p.m. on Saturday before hosting Duquesne on Sunday at the Penn State Tennis Club.