M. Tennis hopes to continue roll against Swarthmore

After losing the first point to Army by dropping two of three doubles matches, the Quakers knew things had to be different this time. The team could not afford to fade like it did against Princeton or West Virginia after losing the hotly contested first point. Any hope of an NCAA berth was realistically on the line against Army, a team the Quakers felt they should beat. This time, Penn did not flinch, fear or fade from the task, but instead grew stronger, routing the Cadets in the singles matches. The Quakers tamed Army, winning 5-2. The next day, Penn rolled passed Cornell, completing the EITL road sweep, with a familiar 5-2 score. "The [Army] match didn't start out quite as well as we wanted it to," senior captain David Nathan said. "But after losing the first point, instead of getting down in that, the team found strength." Nathan and junior Marc Schecter captured Penn's lone doubles victory against Army, and they also won their individual singles matches later in the day, in the No. 1 and No. 2 slots, respectively. "In the doubles, we started pretty strong, but we lost a disappointing point," Schecter said. "We kind of regrouped as a team. Everyone kind of hung around until the momentum changed." The Quakers (13-5, 3-1 EITL) started to feel a little deja vu against Cornell Saturday. They began the doubles matches in lackluster fashion. Penn showed resolve, however, in gutting out two of three doubles matches for the first point. In No. 1 doubles, Nathan and Schecter fended off a Big Red match point before rallying to win in the tie-breaker. Singles play against Cornell was thrown for a loop when Nathan, Penn's No. 1 singles player, withdrew because of tendinitis. Each player for Penn moved up a spot, and freshman Jon Aspatore took the No. 6 position. Despite the confusion, Penn persevered and took four of six of the singles matches with victories by Schecter, junior Neil Aaronson and sophomores Andreas Olofsson and Jeff Jackson. "It was a good match, a match we needed to win," Schecter said. "We played pretty well as a team and did what we needed to do." Coming on the road, both matches offered unique challenges. At Army, the lighting -- or more precisely, the lack thereof -- became an obstacle when darkness hovered. At Cornell, the fans are positioned extremely close to the court, which could potentially serve as distraction. Penn, however, was able to hurdle these obstacles to secure the victory. "I think there are some adjustments we have to look out for," Schecter said. "Every tennis court is the same. Most of us have played in enough places that we should be used to these adjustments." The biggest hurdle for Penn last weekend and for the entire season has been to overcome their doubles play. The Quakers seemed to have learned in last weekend's matches that even if they knock over the first hurdle, they still need to regroup and win the race. · Penn faces local rival Swarthmore today at 2 p.m. The home match will serve as a primer for this weekend's big contests against Dartmouth and Harvard. Nathan said he will miss three or four days of practice, but hopes to return in time for this weekend's matches.