It all came down to freshman James Dwyer.
After the Nittany Lions played more than four hours of tennis, Dwyer, the No. 6 singles player for the Penn State men's tennis team, was the last one left on the court against Virginia Tech, with the match score tied at three.
The freshman was able to fend off junior Brent Wilkins 7-5, 6-4 with all eyes directly on him, giving the No. 64 Lions a 4-3 victory against the No. 50 Hokies on Sunday at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center.
Getting out to a quick 40-0 lead in his service for the match, Dwyer faltered, letting Wilkins climb back to 40-30.
A slow clap started from the Penn State bench and spread through the crowd while Dwyer prepared to serve for match point. Dwyer faulted, but then on his second serve, his opponent returned it back into the net, clinching the match for the Penn State freshman.
"In the clutch, he did what he needed to do," Penn State coach Jan Bortner said. "He's a quick player, he utilized his speed real well out there today. He didn't try to slug it out with the other guy -- he played a smart match."
Sophomore Ryan Berger, who contributed two points for the Lions, said he was proud of his teammate's play, especially as a freshman, and that it will boost Dwyer's confidence as the season rolls on.
The Lions got out to an early lead, sweeping the three doubles matches. Juniors Mark Barry and Malcolm Scatliffe were the most impressive for the Lions at No. 1 doubles, knocking off Virginia Tech's Arvid Puranen and Stephane Rod 8-3.
"One of the things we've been doing [in practice] is about 50-50 of singles and doubles," Bortner said. "That's tough to do because a lot of these guys want to spend time on their singles game, but they've done a real good job of buying into the fact that, if we want to win the close matches this year, we need good doubles play."
Taking the momentum of the doubles matches the Lions added two quick singles points to their team score. Barry faced off against Rod at No. 1 singles, beating the hard-serving Rod in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
Berger followed closely, earning a huge point for the Lions at No. 3 singles, dropping Angel Diankov 6-3, 6-2. With that victory, the Lions needed only one more to secure the match.
Bortner said that once the team had those first three points, it opened the door for someone to step up and win the match.
"Then your other guys are thinking, 'You know what, I can be the guy to clinch this thing,' so they're playing with that extra energy," Bortner said.
That player happened to be Dwyer, but the other singles players for the Lions weren't exactly going out without a fight.
Scatliffe battled through two tough sets before losing to Puranen 6-3, 6-4 in the No. 2 singles spot.
Then, at No. 4 singles, sophomore Brad Hunter refused to give in to Matthieu Larregola, rallying back from 1-4 in the second set, after losing the first. Hunter was able to fight hard and force a third set before eventually being defeated 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
"When you get in these close matches, you want to test the other team's willpower," Bortner said. "By Hunter hanging in there, that was big because our guys out there are seeing a guy battle and seeing him fight and dig -- that inspires them to make sure they're going to play the same way."
With the match still in doubt, freshman Michael James was down one set to Alexei Sergeev, but like the rest of the team, he refused to quit. James continued to rally and fought off the big serves of his opponent. The second set lasted nearly as long as Dwyer's match, with James finally losing 6-3, 7-5.
Although James, Hunter and Scatliffe dropped close matches, the effects of their gritty play showed Virginia Tech and also their teammates how this Penn State team will play this season.
"This team realizes that they could have a special year if they keep working hard and keep getting better," Bortner said.
"We knew this would be tough, playing an outstanding team in our first match at home, and I thought all of them might be a little nervous, but our guys played a good match."
