M. Tennis hopes to learn from loss

How often do you hear a coach describe a defeat as "one of the best things that could have happened?" That's what Penn men's tennis coach Gene Miller had to say about the Quakers' loss to Penn State Saturday. The favored Quakers started off the match well, winning two out of the three doubles matches to earn the doubles point for the contest. The singles matches started off well too -- Penn players captured the first sets in four of the six matches. Penn co-captain Marc Schecter and freshman Marc Fisicaro emerged victorious, but the Nittany Lions roared back to capture the remaining four singles matches and the win, 4-3. "We thought we were going to coast," Miller said. "We had a happy-camper attitude and then Penn State just boosted it up a notch." Since Penn State is one of the teams the Quakers are competing with for an NCAA tournament bid, Saturday's loss was especially painful. Since only the top four teams in the region receive an invitation to the NCAAs, Penn needs to rack up as many victories as possible against Eastern teams to have a shot. And the Nittany Lions do not have the talent of the other teams the Quakers will face this season. "We knew it was going to be tough, but we expected to win," junior Andreas Oloffson said. "We lost a lot of close battles and winning just one would have made the difference." But why was the loss a good thing? Earlier in the season, Miller commented that one of the goals he set for the team was improving mental toughness. He wanted the players to be able to come back strong after a letdown instead of letting a setback impede their progress. The Quakers faced the challenge yesterday of regrouping in time to face American and crosstown rival Temple. The loss to Penn State served as a signal to the Quakers, warning them that nothing can be taken for granted. "I think we realized we shouldn't have lost Saturday, and we did not want it to happen again," Schecter said. "You can't take winning the first set as a victory." The Quakers passed the test, sweeping American 7-0 and giving up just one match to Temple, improving their overall record to 9-3. "The guys showed their true character today," said Miller about yesterday's performance. "It was some of the best tennis I've seen all year. They were dynamite."