Host Quakers fall fast and furious at Penn Conference Classic

Although no one on the Penn men's tennis team advanced past the second round, many Quakers did get key victories against higher-ranked players at the Penn Conference Classic last weekend at Levy Pavilion. Penn captain Marc Fisicaro defeated Kent Koch of Virginia (6-3, 6-3) in the first round of the main draw, but lost to Arturo Zizold of Miami (Fla.) 6-7 (1-7), 6-3. Although Fisicaro was the only Quaker to win in the main draw, the rest of the team didn't allow its first-round loss to affect its play in the consolation round. "In the tournament, every year, we have better and better competition," Penn coach Gene Miller said. "It's great exposure for our guys." Penn freshman Eric Sobotka defeated one of Penn State's top four players, Eric Meditz (6-3, 2-6, 6-4). Penn junior Jordan Szekely also defeated a top-40 player from Northwestern (6-4, 2-6, 6-4). "We've been doing a lot of conditioning and I felt like its really paying off for us," Miller said. "The guys were really fighting hard. They were taking the extra step to go ahead and get the balls. In some cases, it changed matches around, where they were about to go down, but instead of giving in, they fought, and they won." Both Sobotka and Szekely had three-set matches, and Penn junior Tejas Patel also had a three-setter in the second round of the consolation bracket in which he defeated Anders Bjorkholm of Virginia Commonwealth (6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-2). "Even the (VCU) coach thought Tejas was going to pack it in, and sure enough he didn't," Miller said. "He came from behind after losing the first set, 7-6, got a break in the second and came back to win the second set and went on to win the third." Szekely believes the difference in his match was aggressiveness. "I was aggressive in the first and third sets where I won," Szekely said. "In the second set, I don't think that I was as intense as I needed to be." Sobotka had to change his style of play after winning the first set, but losing the second to Meditz, who began coming to the net. In the third set, Sobotka, mostly a baseliner, started mixing up his game, coming to the net more and confused Meditz slightly. "I began attacking him, before he attacked me," Sobotka said. "I'm usually a baseline grounder. I began mixing it up and changing it around. It took some pressure off me because he had made more easy misses." The Penn Conference Classic, one of the few tournaments in the fall, attracted many of the top schools in the nation. The Quakers wanted to use the tournament as exposure to better competitors, and they responded with a few key victories. "The guys gave their all from start to finish, specifically in singles, but I would've liked to have seen more in doubles," Miller said. "We need to continue on what we are trying to build, and keep trying to improve. To challenge the guys, we have to keep going further and do more."