M. TENNIS SEASON REVIEW: Men's Tennis takes pride in remarkable improvement

After finishing seventh in the Eastern Intercollegiate Tennis Association standings last year with a record of 3-6, the Penn men's tennis team showed remarkable improvement this year, finishing in a tie for third place with a 6-3 record. At one point, the Quakers cracked the top 50 in the NCAA rankings, coming in at No. 44. "It has been probably our best season in a long, long time," sophomore Brad Goldberg said. The Red and Blue started off the season strongly, winning their first five contests without losing a single point. Their first real test came against a surprisingly strong team from Rutgers. The outcome of the match was decided in the third set of the final match, when co-captain Neil Aaronson had match points against him before he battled back to win the set and the match. "Anytime you go to 3-3 with match points against you, everyone comes together," Andreas Oloffson said. Next, the Quakers headed to sunny San Diego to prepare for the upcoming EITA season, returning with an impressive win over San Diego State, a team ranked 25 spots ahead of them in the NCAA rankings. Confident, Penn was ready to chase a berth in the NCAA Regionals. "It's a goal we've had every year," Aaronson said. "This year was the first time it seemed possible." The next contest brought the team down to earth however. The favored Quakers barely lost to Penn State. After winning the doubles, Penn looked like it was on its way to another win, taking the first set in four of the six matches. But the Nittany Lions roared back, capturing all but two of the singles matches and the victory. "Penn State was probably the biggest disappointment of the season," Schecter said. The Quakers bounced back however, rolling over their next three opponents by a combined score of 20-1. This streak prompted Navy coach John Officer to describe them as "the toughest Penn team I've seen in my 11 years at Navy." Next, the Quakers faced perennial powerhouse Princeton, who had just beaten Columbia, the defending EITA champions. Penn hadn't beaten the Tigers in over a decade. The Quakers took the early lead by winning the doubles, and both teams split the first four singles matches. With Penn leading 3-2, Oloffson was down 0-3 in the third set of the No. 5 singles match. But the junior stormed back, hitting an ace to win the match and clinch the victory for the Quakers, keeping a dream season alive. Penn kept on rolling, putting away both Army and Cornell the next weekend. Suddenly, the Quakers were leading the EITA standings with five matches left to go. But Dartmouth and Harvard put an end to the Quakers' winning streak, as Penn managed to win only four matches throughout the entire weekend. Penn put up a good fight, losing most of the matches in three sets. "Everyone really played their heart out," Oloffson said. "But we just came up a little bit short." The Quakers won their next three contests before succumbing 5-2 to Columbia last weekend. The loss to the Lions ended any hope of qualifying for the NCAA Regionals. "We didn't end the season as strongly as we would have liked," Schecter said. "But we're a young team and we're just going to get better. We had a tough road season and next year, we'll be playing those teams at home." Penn loses only three players to graduation going into next season. Coach Gene Miller cited the main reasons for the team's success this year as strong senior leadership, several talented newcomers and, most of all, great team chemistry. "Things just came together," Schecter said. "Everyone knew the rules, accepted their roles and did everything they could to help the team."