While the rest of the Penn State men's tennis team was given a break from practice last Tuesday and Wednesday, junior Malcolm Scatliffe had to prepare to leave for Tennessee.

Scatliffe was selected to play in the Icy Hot ITA All-American Tournament in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The tournament that started last Thursday took the top 64 collegiate singles players in the country.

Scatliffe was one of two players from the East Coast to be selected to play.

His first opponent in the round of 64 was Stanford's K.C. Corkery.

Penn State coach Jan Bortner who talks to his team about aggressiveness in practice felt that Scatliffe had to be aggressive to succeed. After splitting the first two sets Scatliffe lost the third and deciding set 6-2.

"Malcolm really pushed that kid to the limit," Bortner said. "That match was much closer than score indicated."

The loss didn't seem to stop Scatliffe aggressiveness going into the consolation round. Against his next opponent, Vlad Obradovic from the University of Florida, Scatliffe again had to play a third set. This time Scatliffe gained the victory in a 6-4 final set.

"Obradovic couldn't handle Malcolm's constant pressure," Bortner said.

"He was very aggressive in making sure to get to the net to put added pressure on the kid from Florida."

On the first day of competition Scatliffe had played a total of five hours of tennis.

After a day of what Bortner called "some great tennis," Scatliffe on the second day of competition came out flat.

Malcolm would have to play some of his best tennis against the No. 9 player in the country, Alex Slovic from the University of Washington. Unfortunately for Scatliffe this was not the case. He lost in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.

"Malcolm just never got started on Friday against Slovic," Bortner said. "The aggressiveness he showed in the first two matches didn't seem to come out in the third."

Bortner said that Scatliffe should not see this weekend as a disappointment.

"Malcolm's performance shows the young guys if they work hard they can get the big opportunities," said Bortner.

Bortner felt it was important for the team to see its captain selected to a big tournament.

Scatliffe, who as a junior is one of two captains with junior Mark Barry, leads a young team of sophomores and freshmen. With the Army Invitational coming up next weekend, Scatliffe has to get back to work.

Bortner hopes that the rest of the team will follow Scatliffe's example of aggressive play.

"He showed our players that we can compete with any team and any player," said Bortner. "I hope the players look at him and say to themselves, I want to be able to get there."

If they follow Scatliffe's lead getting there would be much each easier.