M. Tennis trio learns from invite

In the early stages of the season, the numbers may not be the best reflection of the success of a match. Last weekend, Quakers men's tennis coach Gene Miller took three players to the Princeton Spring Invitational with several objectives -- first and foremost to win. Although victory escaped two of the three Quakers, Miller feels the remaining objectives of the weekend were fulfilled. The sole Quaker to chalk up a 'W' was senior Joel Silman. The most experienced of the three Penn players, Silman managed to emerge victorious against Mike Schonbraum of Princeton 6-2, 6-1. Although Silman fell to Josh Houseman of Harvard 6-4, 6-4 in the second round, Miller felt the overall showing of Silman was a positive sign the Quakers are moving in the right direction. The play of sophomores David Schwartzman and Jordan Szekely did not earn a win for either player, but certainly left Miller looking to the future in a positive light. "I really believe in my guys and what they can do. I think they can beat any of these guys," Miller said. Schwartzman, who was dealt the toughest two draws of the three, first matched up against the Tigers' No. 1 singles player, Josh Gilula. Gilula, also the No. 23 player in the region, was given a scare by Schwartzman in the first set, 7-5, but managed to take the second set with relative ease (6-2). In the backdraw round, Schwartzman found himself matched against his second regionally-ranked opponent of the tournament. Living up to the competitiveness displayed in the first round, Schwartzman took Columbia freshman Salil Sashadri to the bitter end of a first-set tiebreaker, only to lose at 7-5. The second set proved to be slightly easier for Sashadri, the No. 10 player in the region, ending the tournament for Schwartzman after two difficult matches -- 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. Szekely's match also resulted in a loss for the sophomore, as he drew the toughest first-round, individual match. Penn State senior Michael Carter, the seventh-ranked player in the region, proved to be overpowering (6-1, 6-1). The first match, however, provided Szekely valuable experience for a difficult second match in the backdraw round. Szekely fared better against Mike Pasarella of Harvard, but was still unable to find the road to victory, losing 6-4, 6-1. Miller took these three into a field he knew would be strong. Essentially, the Quakers tossed what Miller feels will be his No. 4 through No. 6 players into a field of the top-three players of other schools. In addition, Miller accomplished his goals seeing the Penn representatives take to the court after a full winter's worth of work. "They were able to show improvement in the little things that we had been working on in practice, like our second serves and volleys," Miller said. Miller also used this showing to test what may prove a series of different doubles combinations to fill out the squads' last two doubles spots. He used Silman and Schwartzman together for the first time as doubles partners, looking for a spark of new chemistry. Their first match together proved a tough test as they played the 10th-ranked doubles team in the region. The tandem of Princeton sophomores Jeff Schacter and Patrick Sweeney brought not only their high ranking, but a unique doubles style stressing complete dominance of the baseline. The Tigers' hard-hitting proved to be too much for the first-time partners, but gave Miller something to think about for the immediate standing of his doubles parings. The Penn coach felt that they were able to keep this powerful team uncharacteristically off balance for most of the match, showing the "communication between doubles players" that is necessary to be successful.

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