Friday, March 28, 1997

Netmen face 'huge' weekend of Big Ten play

By MICHAEL LELLO
Collegian Sports Writer

The Penn State men's tennis team has been on fire lately, and it hopes to keep that fire burning this weekend when two Big Ten foes visit State College.

Penn State tennis player Mike Griesser returns a shot in a match against Bloomsburg University Wednesday. The tennis team plays against Minnesota and Iowa this weekend at the Penn State Tennis Center. (Collegian Photo / Galen A. Lentz - click for full size image)

The Nittany Lions face Minnesota at 9 a.m. Saturday and then Iowa at the same time Sunday. Both matches will be at the Penn State Tennis Center.

The Lions (7-5, 0-2 Big Ten) have won four straight matches, the last being Wednesday's 6-1 victory over Bloomsburg.

With the non-conference portion of their schedule out of the way, the Lions now must be ready for Big Ten play. Eight of their next 10 matches will be against Big Ten teams. This weekend marks the first time the Lions play a conference foe since losing to Wisconsin on Feb. 23.

"This weekend is huge," Lion coach Jan Bortner said. "The Big Ten is unbelievably strong this season. In fact, it's the strongest it's been since we've joined the conference (six seasons ago)."

Minnesota (5-8, 1-2) has won four of the last five Big Ten titles. The Golden Gophers are led by senior captain Ben Gabler and Lars Hjarrand. Hjarrand, a three-time All-Big Ten selection, is attempting to become the first four-time All-Big Ten tennis pick in conference history.

Although the Gophers did not win the conference title last season, they did make it to the NCAA Region IV championships.

One reason Minnesota thinks it can reclaim the Big Ten title this season is because of the play of their "super sophomores," Tom Chicoine, Martin Kristoffersen and Adam Selkirk. All three saw significant playing time as freshmen.

"We had outstanding development out of last season's freshman class," Gopher coach David Geatz said. "If they and the rest of the team continue to get better, we will have a very good season."

Iowa (6-6, 1-2) is a rebuilding team hoping to improve on last year's dismal campaign, in which it did not win a Big Ten match. The Hawkeyes top player, Tom Derouin, is expected to face Lion Michael Carter in Sunday's No. 1 singles action.

While the Lions have been successful lately, they know things will only get more difficult now that the non-conference schedule is complete.

"The Big Ten is a lot tougher," Lion freshman Marc Dorfman said.

The Big Ten may be tough, but Penn State seems up for the challenge and is looking forward to the weekend.

Said Bortner: "We're ready to go on Saturday."