UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; September 29, 2006 ¨C Penn State¡¯s men¡¯s tennis team opened the ECAC Championships with a convincing 6-1 win over No. 14 seed St. Joseph¡¯s. Penn State will face Manhattan in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Sophomore Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) suffered his first setback of the season at No. 1 singles. Slagter took the first set 6-4, but Jarrett Chirico of St. Joe¡¯s battled back to take the second set 6-4. In the deciding set, Chirico caught fire and defeated Slagter 10-2 to take the match.

Ryan Berger (Grand Rapids, Mich.) defeated the Hawks¡¯ Matt Glasgow in No. 2 singles action. After dominating the first set (6-1), Berger finished off Glasgow 6-4 in the second set.

Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.) continued his stellar play with a 7-5, 7-6 (1) win over Phil Bayliss of St. Joe¡¯s at No. 3 singles. Lynch remains perfect in singles action this season.

Senior Bradley Hunter (Atlanta, Ga.) was victorious at the No.4 spot. Hunter defeated Patrick Adams of St. Joe¡¯s 6-0, 6-2. Guillaume St-Maurice (Saint-Eustache, Quebec) also continued strong play in his first collegiate season. St-Maurice was a straight set winner over the Hawks¡¯ Nick Tuxen (6-0, 6-2). In No. 6 singles action, Michael James (Clifton, Va.) beat Lucho Perez-Abreu 6-1, 6-0.

In doubles, Berger and Slagter paired up to defeat Bayliss and Chirico 8-6 at the No. 1 spot. Lynch and St-Maurice were also winners at No. 3 doubles against Adams and Perez-Abreu (8-3). James and Hunter suffered their first setback of the season at No. 2 doubles against Phil Garabedia and Glasgow (8-6).

After a slow start, head coach Todd Doebler was happy with the way the match concluded.

¡°St Joe¡¯s came out ready to play and we took a little while,¡± Doebler said. ¡°At the end of singles our guys were competing at a much higher level.¡±

The No. 3 seed Nittany Lions will face No. 11 Manhattan tomorrow at 8 a.m. in the quarterfinals of the 2006 ECAC Championships. Follow the action at www.ecac.org.

Final Score: Penn State 6, Saint Joseph¡¯s 1 Doubles 1: Ryan Berger/Adam Slagter (PSU) def. Jarrett Chirico/Phil Bayliss (St. Joe¡¯s), 8-6 2: Phil Garabedia/Matt Glasgow (St. Joe¡¯s) def. Michael James/Bradley Hunter (PSU), 8-6 3: Brendan Lynch/Guillaume St-Maurice (PSU) def. Patrick Adams/Lucho Perez-Abreu (St. Joe¡¯s), 8-3 Singles 1: Chirico (St. Joe¡¯s) def. Slagter (PSU), 4-6, 6-4, 10-2 2: Berger (PSU) def. Glasgow (St. Joe¡¯s), 6-1, 6-4 3: Lynch (PSU) def. Phil Bayliss (St. Joe¡¯s), 7-5, 7-6 (1) 4: Hunter (PSU) def. Adams (St. Joe¡¯s), 6-0, 6-2 5: St-Maurice (PSU) def. Tuxen (St. Joe¡¯s), 6-0, 6-2 6: James (PSU) def. Perez-Abreu (St. Joe¡¯s), 6-1, 6-0