M. Tennis comes up short at Invite

Since maturity is often judged by the ability to bounce back from a disappointing performance, the maturity of the Penn men's tennis team will be tested in its next outing. This past weekend, Penn sent senior captain David Nathan, senior Mark Schecter and freshman J.J. Cramer to Princeton for an individual competition which is essentially a warm-up for the season. Based on the results, the Quakers should be happy the scores at the Princeton Invitational will not be in the record books. Cramer lost in the first round to Todd Maringoff, ranked 11th in the country, and then lost to Ford Lankford, Kentucky's No. 2 player. Nathan suffered a first-round defeat at the hands of Brook Hazelton, but then rebounded and defeated Navy's Dan Gordon in a tough three-setter. The Quakers' final match was the doubles team of Nathan and Schecter. Unfortunately for Penn, the duo lost in the first round to Princeton's No. 1 tandem of Andy Weiss and Reed Cordish. During the two days of competition, the Quakers were plagued by a number of problems. During his consolation match against Lankford, Cramer broke two strings and was forced to compete with a borrowed racket. The difficulties for the Quakers did not stop there. After defeating Gordon, Nathan, who provided Penn's only bright spot, was forced to default due to a minor injury. "It was a good warm-up," Penn sophomore Roy Sehgel said. "We played some tough opponents, and we held our own. We should not be down just because we didn't win. The teams at Princeton are some of the best in the country." The scenario might be different, however, if the Princeton Invitational counted for the season. "Princeton is really just a time to get used to match competition again," Penn coach Gene Miller said. "It's a warm-up for the season, really just for individual performances." The Quakers, however, must bounce back for their own tournament this weekend. They will host Boston University, Georgetown, George Washington and Rutgers. "We play some tough opponents this weekend," Sehgel said. "We'll have to be able to play as a team this weekend to win." Arriving at this team concept will be a key to the Quakers' success, for at Princeton, where individualism was accented, Penn bombed. Once the Quakers can play as a team, beating opponents should become second nature. But maturity is the key to the whole thing.