M. Tennis wraps up season at Regionals

Throughout its fall season, the Penn men's tennis team played mixed doubles. And mixed singles. Results for the young squad were alternately promising and disappointing. It was more of the same in the Quakers' final event of the season, the Rolex Regional Championships, held at Princeton this past Thursday through Sunday. Penn coach Gene Miller described his team's results as "average." The highlight for the Quakers was the doubles competition, in which both Penn teams earned seeds. The 13th seeded team of freshmen J.J. Cramer and Brad Goldberg advanced to the round of 16 and lived up to its seed. After a first round bye, Cramer and Goldberg dispatched the Princeton duo of Katz and Russell, 7-6, 0-6, 6-2, to reach the third round. The win set up a confrontation with the tournament's No. 1 seeds, Chad Boonswang and Nick Leschly of Princeton. After the Quaker duo quickly seized the first set by a surprisingly easy 6-2 score, it appeared that an upset was in the works. But Boonswang and Leschly battled back and narrowly took the last two sets and the match 7-5, 6-4. The loss was bitter for the freshmen, but something positive came out of it. "We definitely could have won," Goldberg said. "They came out flat, and we got up a set really fast. We could have won in two sets, but we didn't close it out. "Supposedly they're the top doubles team in the region, and I think any one of our doubles teams could have beaten them. So I think that really bodes well for us in the future." The other doubles team in the event for the Quakers was the tandem of senior captain David Nathan and junior Marc Schecter. Seeded 14th, Nathan and Schecter also reached the round of 16. Following a first-round bye, the Quaker duo faced the Pittsburgh team of Doherty and Wade. Nathan and Schecter emerged with a tough three-set win, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4. The victory set up a meeting with the seventh seeded Princeton team of Gothard and Weiss. Once again a Quaker doubles team lost in three hard-fought sets in the Sweet Sixteen. This time Nathan and Schecter fell 7-6, 0-6, 6-3. Though disappointed with the loss, Nathan felt that he and Schecter played some of their best doubles of the season after a fall in which they performed below their expectations. The singles competition produced a couple of bright spots for the Quakers. After being placed in the qualifying draw, Schecter won two matches to reach the main draw. Schecter then won his first-round match before losing in the second round to Holden Spaht of Dartmouth, 7-6, 6-1. Nathan also reached the round of 32 with a first-round win, but then lost to Reed Cordish of Princeton in three sets, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1. "I would have liked to have played better," Nathan said of his last match. "I wanted to raise my level of play. If I played at the level I played at in some previous matches, like the ECACs, I would have won." The top 30 singles players are given regional rankings, so as a result of Nathan's and Schecter's wins, one or both of them will be ranked. Miller felt the Quakers' results were predictable when looked at in the proper context. And he likes what he sees for the spring season. "For the work we put in, they did what we expected," Miller said. "When you take into account [practices conflicting with classes], we're doing what we should. In the spring we should be much better. "Last year we emphasized [the fall season] more," Miller said. "We did well in the fall, but not as well in the spring. Now we're rising. I like where we're going."