M. Tennis splits contests

For those fans out there who like highly competitive contests, end-to-the-wire finishes and last-minute excitement, the Penn men's tennis team gave you?nothing of the sort. In its first match, the Quakers (8-4) blanked St. Joseph's, sweeping all four singles matches and the lone doubles match. The tables quickly turned for Penn, as the Quakers got pressed to the other side of a shutout, falling to West Virginia, 7-0. The West Virginia loss was particularly disheartening to the Quakers because the Mountaineers (8-4) are one of Penn's principal rivals in Region 1. Only the top four teams in the region make the NCAAs. "We played fairly well, but I think everybody's pretty disappointed," sophomore Andreas Olofsson said. "We're playing well right now so we should have been able to compete with them. We just didn't take care of our opportunities." Missed opportunities was a recurring theme throughout the team. Although the score against the Mountaineers was lopsided, many of the individual matches were highly competitive. "We played them really close," sophomore Roy Sehgal said. "We've got to realize that it shouldn't be a disappointing loss, but rather a missed opportunity." The Quakers also suffered another injury this season, as freshman J.J. Cramer sprained his ankle during his singles match against West Virginia. He was forced to withdraw. Despite the defeat and injury, the Quakers experienced several positive events yesterday. Penn's win over St. Joseph's was particularly impressive because it was delivered by players who have seen limited action this season. Coach Gene Miller was pleased by the tenacity his players showed against St. Joe's. "St. Joseph's played better than expected, but our guys handled it," Miller said. "When they got broken, they [got the] break back." Penn also received good news in the play of its captain, senior David Nathan. Having not played for two weeks due to injury, he played both singles and doubles yesterday. "I think I played well considering the time off," Nathan said. "In the singles, it took me a while to get settled back into my match. My serve wasn't working for me today so I had to change my game from serve and volley to staying on the baseline and looking for the short ball." West Virginia, ranked third in the region, handed the Quakers their first home loss of the season. Penn was hoping to have two consecutive wins over top-ranked Region 1 opponents. The Quakers beat George Washington earlier this year. Now, with the defeat, Penn will have to work even harder to gain a spot in the NCAAs.