PSU gains two wins vs. Big Ten opponents

Yesterday's win against the Golden Gophers (6-11, 3-5) evened the Lions' Big Ten record at 4-4 and was a battle for every point in nearly every match.

"It feels good to beat Minnesota -- it's the first time we've beaten them since I've been here, and I know it's been a long time since we have ever beaten them," No. 2 singles player Malcolm Scatliffe said. "It just feels good, especially when I'm able to clinch it for us, but the whole team played so good today."

With all the pressure on, Scatliffe, a junior, was at his best, beating D.J. Geatz in a hard fought 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) match, clinching the win for the Lions. After handling Geatz in the first set, Scatliffe battled from behind in much of the second set.

Scatliffe found himself down, 5-6, and needed to force a tiebreak, as No. 1 singles player Mark Barry had just been forced to a third set, leaving the overall match at 3-2, and still very much in question.

Scatliffe came through in a huge way, holding his serve to force a tiebreaker with Geatz.

The heated tiebreak finished with Scatliffe hitting a solid first serve to force a weak return, which he attacked with an overhead, putting Geatz, and the Gophers, away.

"Malcolm loves to play at home, with all the pressure on and everyone watching him -- that's when we get the best of him," Penn State coach Jan Bortner said.

Scatliffe's heroics at singles took the pressure off of Barry, who lost a close second set in a tie break, but went on to beat Adrien Debreyne, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, capping off the remarkable singles play for the Lions.

Starting down 0-1, the Lions rallied to control the singles play. Freshmen Michael James and James Dwyer, who each went 2-0 at singles during the weekend, put the pressure on the Gophers, winning handily in two-set victories at Nos. 5 and 6, respectively.

Ryan Berger sparked the Lions, getting them on the board with a very quick 6-3, 6-0 victory against Nic Edlefsen. The win was the second straight match in which Berger had started off the singles for the Lions with a victory, as he did the same thing against Iowa.

"I was just playing with so much confidence, that's the best I've played all year," Berger said. "It's all the guys -- all the points mattered, I just happened get mine first."

While the singles are easily the strong point, the Lions have been steadily improving on their doubles. Against Minnesota the Lions got about as close as they could get to winning, but Barry and Scatliffe barely lost in a tiebreak, 9-8 (7-5), to Geatz and Debreyne at No. 1 doubles. However, Berger and fellow sophomore Bradley Hunter played easily the best doubles of their collegiate careers, winning 8-2 against Edlefsen and Raolil Schwark.

"That was definitely the best we've ever played together," Berger said. "Our serves and returns -- everything was going our way today, we really needed that kind of match together to take with us into next week."

Yesterday's doubles were actually an improvement over Friday's play, when the Lions finally earned their first doubles point of the Big Ten season against the Hawkeyes. The Lions, using the home courts and finally getting off to a 1-0 start, were able to sweep the Hawkeyes 7-0, a feat against a Big Ten opponent.

"Two things about beating a Big Ten team 7-0, to do that, that's home court advantage," Bortner said. "The other thing is these courts suit our style of play. We've got a lot of guys that are willing to work the ball and a lot of guys who are willing to play long points."

With the weekend sweep, the Lions are now 4-4 in the conference. From here out every match for the Lions will have implications for selections to the NCAA Championships.

"It's going to be fun on Tuesday to see where we are in the rankings," Bortner said. "We should be anywhere from the high 40s to the low 50s, and that's the area where you're on the bubble for NCAAs."