M. Tennis earns 20-of-21 points over three matches

For most of the Penn student body, spring break will be a time to hit the beach and relax. For the men's tennis team, it will be a time to hit the courts and do anything but relax. The Quakers destroyed the competition on Friday and Saturday in Levy Pavilion, leaving no doubts that they are ready to hit the road and face the best of the best. Beginning with Richmond on Friday (7-0) and moving on to George Washington (6-1) and St. Bonaventure (7-0), the Quakers won 20 of 21 possible team points, mopping the court with the opponents. "We came out and smoked a GW team that we had trouble beating in the fall, and ripped a good Richmond team," Penn junior Marc Fisicaro said. The Quakers' lineup had to overcome adversity to accomplish this feat. Fisicaro and Penn coach Gene Miller decided it would be best for the No. 2 singles player to take the weekend off in hopes of being at the top of his game for the long trip south. The Quakers also were without senior co-captain J.J. Cramer due to some nagging injuries. The absence of these two key pieces to the Quakers mix made it necessary for Miller to play his cards in hopes of coming up with yet another workable hand. "The team needs to find alternative ways to win, and they need to find ways to overcome adversity -- they did a great job with that over the weekend," Miller said. The new lineup faced a Richmond team that had upset Penn at home three years ago. The doubles teams gave Penn their first point with relative ease. In the absence of Fisicaro and Cramer, Miller paired Cramer's co-captain and partner in crime, Brad Goldberg, with Penn sophomore Udi Kish. The team was unable to pull out the "W," dropping the match 9-7. Miller's other experiment proved worthwhile as the team of Joel Silman and Urs Baertschi crushed the No. 2 doubles of the Spiders 8-1. Dominic Rioux and David Schwartzman rounded out the winning effort with an 8-5 showing. The play of the singles was telling in the absence of Penn's quiet leader Fisicaro. "With Marc out, everyone had to step up and raise their level of play to win these matches," Miller said. The keyed up Quakers put it all together. The singles players didn't lose a match as Kish started off with a 6-1, 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory. Silman stepped up to No. 2 and Goldberg at No. 3, both winning in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2 and 6-4, 6-4, respectively. Strong play was also exhibited by Jordan Szekely (3-6, 6-3, 6-4), Baertschi (4-6, 6-0, 6-2) and Michael Klatsky (6-3, 6-2) giving the Quakers a shutout. This momentum carried over to the Saturday dual match with the Colonials and the Bonnies. Penn spoiled the return of former assistant coach Michael Bates, by racking up their second shutout in as many days. Miller was able to see the future of his tennis program in action, as he completely juggled the lineup giving many underclassmen a chance to play singles. The familiar names played the top with Baertschi at No. 1, Rioux at No. 2 and Schwartzman at No. 3. Every singles player was victorious in straight sets. The George Washington match was a whole different story. The Quakers began the match faced with the notion that this would be yet another dogfight as it was in the fall. The same three doubles teams which opposed Richmond were unable to earn the doubles point. The team of Baertschi and Silman gave Penn their only doubles victory, and watched GW go ahead a quick 1-0. The match quickly made a volteface, as the singles matches began. Penn quickly proved that they were the better squad, and for the third match straight, not one singles player lost a match. "We need to use this match as a launching pad for the trip and become a more attacking team for the play we are going to see next week," Miller said. The Quakers will take this momentum against a tough South Alabama team. With the return of the leadership of Cramer and Fisicaro to the lineup, the team should be bolstered enough to give the Quakers signs of hope. "We need to believe we can beat this level of competition? we went to Illinois looking to learn, but we found out that we aren't that different from that level," Fisicaro said. Fisicaro's return should lift the level of play just through presence. The junior has been consistent at No. 2 all season en route to a 8-1 season for the Quakers, 6-0 this spring. The rest will have to wait until summer. The Quakers will prove that they can break the next level with South Alabama and Miami next week.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.