Two big wins for Penn

Penn grounded Navy and tore apart Princeton Penn walked into New Jersey last Friday, proving to the rest of the Ivy League that the Tigers are tamable, and the Quakers plan to do the taming. This weekend, the men's tennis team went on the road and came home with two huge victories. Playing at Princeton, N.J., against the Tigers and at Annapolis, Md., against Navy, Penn came away with defining victories, 4-3 and 5-2, respectively. The Quakers and Tigers both headed into the match with momentum. Penn strung together a two match win streak last week, defeating Saint Joseph's and Swarthmore. Princeton (5-7, 0-1 Ivy League) was returning to play their first Ivy match, after earning a huge upset at Minnesota then the 43rd-ranked team in the nation, by a margin of 4-3. With the stage set for the showdown, and both teams flying high, the play lived up to all expectations, except those of the odds makers. "No one outside the team expected us to win, but we knew we could play with them," Penn senior co-captain Brad Goldberg said. The Quakers went out and set the tone with strong doubles play that nearly boosted them over a tough Penn State squad the previous weekend. The Quakers' No. 1 doubles of team of sophomore Udi Kish and Marc Fisicaro was unable to get into the victory column. The No. 2 and No. 3 teams picked up the slack with big wins propelling the team. The No. 2 team of Goldberg and fellow senior captain J.J. Cramer took charge with an 8-3 victory over Ahn Ahn Liu and Kevin Woo. The strong duo of sophomore David Schwartzman and freshman Dominic Rioux continued their consistent play of late with a convincing 8-6 defeat of Patrick Sweeney and Jeff Schachter. The Quakers then went out in search of dissecting the Tigers' typically baseline style of play. The strong effort of Fisicaro at No. 2 got the team on the right track. Fisicaro gave Penn one of the three needed singles points for victory, with a 6-3, 6-2 win over David Schonbraun. Goldberg also stepped up big, winning his match by a count of 6-3, 6-2. Goldberg's match exemplified the attack style of play that the Quakers used to defeat the Tigers. "With the majority of the team playing a baseline game, we were not overly surprised by their style. I knew in my match I would have to come to the net and attack," Goldberg said. The third singles point was earned by freshman Michael Klatsky at the No. 6 position. Klatsky continued his fine season with a 6-1, 6-2 defeat over Shai Ingber. With the defeat of the Tigers under their belt, Penn hoped to carry the same level of play into Maryland when it faced off against a much improved Navy squad. "At first we were all elated to have defeated Princeton, but coach reminded us of a story about an old team that had beat Princeton, and literally went into their next match with victory hats on, and lost," Rioux said. "Then we knew we had to go into the match ready to play." The Penn team proved they were up for the challenge, as they took yet another doubles point, en route to a 5-2 win. The doubles lineup overcame a minor lineup change, as Penn coach Gene Miller searched for a way to fill the hole of a resting Kish. The number one team of senior Joel Silman and Schwartzman, was unable to add to the charge in the doubles bracket. The No. 2 and No. 3 teams again picked up the slack though, as Miller's combinations proved to be the winning formula. With the absence of Kish, Miller shifted Fisicaro to the No. 2 spot with Cramer. Goldberg, usually matched with Cramer was then moved to the No. 3 spot with Rioux. The team didn't miss a beat as these two tandems brought the Quakers the doubles point, once again. The Quakers then used their singles depth to put Navy away. The No. 1 and No. 2 spots, of Fisicaro and Silman were unable to stake out there prey, as both came away with loses. Penn went unfazed as the bottom four singles spots then swept their matches for the necessary points. The attack was once again led by Goldberg at the No. 3 spot. Goldberg went to a third set, but came out on top with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 win. Cramer, Klatsky and Scwartzman earned the remaining victories in swift fashion. "We established ourselves, but now we need to continue it the next two weekends, and then we'll be fine," Rioux said. The Penn team proved that they could tame the Tigers and ground the Navy.

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