Pepperdine Downs PSU In NCAA Action At Marks Tennis Stadium
May 11, 2007 | Men's Tennis
May 11, 2007
No. 20 Pepperdine, the defending NCAA champion, defeated No. 42 Penn State, 4-1, in an NCAA Championships Men's Tennis first round match at USC's Marks Stadium on Friday (May 12).
Pepperdine improved to 23-7 while Penn State, in its fourth NCAA Championships appearance, fell to 16-7.
The Waves opened action by winning the doubles point as Omar Altmann and Richard Johnson defeated Penn State's Michael James and Ryan Berger, 8-1, and Andre Begemann and Mahmound Kamel outlasted James Dwyer and Adam Slagter, 8-6. Begemann and Kamel led their match 7-3, but saw the Nittany Lions rally to 7-6 before falling. Penn State's Bradley Hunter and Brendan Lynch led Pepperdine's Bassam Beidas and James Lemke, 6-5, when the Waves clinched the doubles point, suspending play.
Kamel got on the board first in singles with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Hunter at No. 6 singles. Altmann followed him shortly after with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Ryan Gormley at No. 5 to give the Waves a 3-0 lead.
James, ranked No. 90 in the country in singles, extended the match with an upset of No. 16 Begemann, 7-5, 3-6, at No.1 singles his win spurring on his Nitanny Lion teammates.
Slagter, trailing 6-2, 5-3 and down 40-0 at No. 3 singles, fought off three match points against Lemke to keep Penn State alive and eventually evened the second set at 5-5. But Lemke responded by breaking Slagter for a 6-5 edge before serving for the victory.
Johnson was leading Penn State's Lynch, 7-5, 5-2, when play was suspended while No. 54 Beidas was up 6-4, 4-5, on Berger when the action stopped.
Pepperdine will play the winner of USC-UC Santa Barbara, which follows the Waves' match.
DOUBLES
(1) Omar Altmann-Richard Johnson (PEP) def. Michael James-Ryan Berger (PSU) - 8-1
(2) Andre Begemann-Mahmoud Kamel (PEP) def. James Dwyer-Adam Slagter (PSU), 8-6
(3) Bassam Beidas-James Lemke (PEP) vs. Bradley Hunter-Brendan Lynch (PSU), 5-6, DNF
SINGLES
(1) Andre Begemann (PEP) lost to Michael James (PSU), 5-7, 3-6
(2) Bassam Beidas (PEP) led Ryan Berger (PSU), 6-4, 4-5 (DNF)
(3) James Lemke (PEP) def. Adam Slagter (PSU), 6-2, 7-5
(4) Richard Johnson (PEP) led Brendan Lynch (PSU), 7-5, 5-2 (DNF)
(5) Omar Altmann (PEP) def. Ryan Gormley (PSU), 6-4, 6-2
(6) Mahmoud Kamel (PEP) def. Bradley Hunter (PSU), 6-1, 6-1
