Flat M. Tennis splits a pair of Ivy matches

Maybe, as Penn coach Gene Miller suspects, the Spring Fling atmosphere kept the Quakers' from playing their best. The Penn men's tennis team looked to rebound from a two-loss weekend in New England with a homestand against Brown and Yale. The Quakers marched through the weekend with a only a split to show for their efforts. Hoping to climb back into the Eastern League hunt, standing at 4-2, the weekend seemed like a must-win proposition. However, the split still leaves the Quakers (13-9, 5-3 EITA) with an inkling of hope going into the season finale with Columbia next Saturday. "The mix is anyone's guess," Penn coach Gene Miller said of the standings. "We have to come out and play the exact opposite as we did against Yale and more like the previous weekend." The league mix became shuffled this weekend when Harvard, the league leader, fell to a Princeton team the Quakers disposed of earlier this season, 4-3. Friday gave the Quakers momentum, and hope for the two victories, as they disposed of Brown with relative ease, 6-1. "The guys played very well against Brown," Miller said. "Everyone played as they should have." The Penn attack came out in usual fashion, rolling over the Brown duos in all three matches. The No. 1 combination of sophomore Udi Kish and junior Marc Fisicaro led the charge with a 8-5 game tally. The singles lineup then played an equally effective match to put the contest out of the Bears' reach. All but one Quaker disposed of his Brown counterpart. Fisicaro once again headed the charge with a 6-3, 6-3 win. The negatives of the match fell into the Quakers' laps all at once. No. 1 singles player Michael Klatsky not only fell to his Bears opponent, but also suffered cramps that would keep him out of the Saturday match with Yale. The freshman is the second player to be taken out of the lineup due to physical problems in the last several weeks. Senior Joel Silman, who played No. 1 through No. 3 this year, has been unable to play the last three weekends due to injury. The Brown win brought one minor loss to the team before the match with the Elis on Saturday. The Quakers were unable to sustain the momentum from the day before. In an uncharacteristic performance, Penn lost a close match by the count of 4-3. "In the singles they definitely played well, but since we came out sluggish we were affected," Miller said. The doubles play, usually a strong component of the Quakers winning efforts, failed to earn a point for the team. The No. 1 team of Kish and Fisicaro lost by the same tally that they gave them the victory the day before, 8-5. The third team, a first time pairing this year of sophomores Tejas Patel and southpaw David Schwartzman, was also unable to emerge victorious. The lone doubles team to win its draw was the No. 2 tandem. The team of senior co-captains, Brad Goldberg and J.J. Cramer, continued its consistent play of the year. "Because they had done so well at doubles points all year, they expected it to just happen," Miller said. "But [Yale] had the fire in their eyes and we got surprised." The singles play was unable to pick up the slack. Fisicaro's baseline attack led him to a second straight victory, 7-6, 6-2. The senior leadership brought home the two other Penn points. Cramer, and his big serve came in with a "W," as did Goldberg for the second straight day. The inconsistent play of the Quakers brought the question of the Spring Fling atmosphere to the forefront. "It may have been the social distractions last weekend, we'll never know," Miller said. "But, carrying away some of the best tennis we played all year, we came out flat for whatever the reason and we'll all have to answer for that." The answers, whatever they be, simply produced a loss. "I don't know what happened against Yale, I am still trying to figure that one out," Fisicaro said. "The guys sacrificed too much not to be focused. Everyone seemed pretty disciplined." The Quakers go into their last match of the weekend with a glint of hope for making the regionals. "We did some things this year that I've never seen a team do," Miller said. "I think our team has sort of changed the balance of power in the league by pushing everybody." The Quakers will look to make their season meaningful with a win against the Lions.

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