M. Tennis falls to West Va. at home

The Penn men's tennis team lost by a score of 4-3 to West Virginia at Levy. Last weekend's Illinois Invitational should have prepared the men's tennis for West Virginia Thursday. But it didn't. The Quakers(1-2) lost to the Mountaineers 4-3 after a series of long, frustrating matches Thursday afternoon. This loss comes on the heels of playing top-10 Florida and top-20 teams Middle Tennessee State and Illinois last Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Although the Quakers were crushed in those matches, the tough schedule they have been playing should have made them ready for yesterday's match. The Mountaineers, currently unranked in the Big East, are pleased with the result and hope they get the respect they deserve after posting an 8-12 record last season. "It was important for us because we're not ranked in the East right now and we really feel we should be," Mountaineer sophomore Michael Dektas said. The Red and Blue lost two of the three doubles matches, awarding the doubles' point to the Mountaineers. Penn sophomore Dominic Rioux and junior David Schwartzman lost to Mountaineer combo Mike Dektas and Walter Samora, 8-6, while Ben Jacobs and Ryan Shaffer defeated Quakers junior Urs Baertschi and freshman Joey Zupan with an identical result. The one win came from junior Jordan Szekely and freshman Oliver Varban over James Kent and Nate Crichton, 8-3. The singles matches ended with Penn winning three out of six, with a seventh game left uncounted. Zupan won the seventh exhibition game defeating opponent Tim Goepel, 8-2. Singles matches were plagued by mistakes poor play from both teams. The matches were filled with missed shots and unanswered points. "It was hard coming out from Illinois, it was a step below the competition and personally, it was hard to be really motivated." Szekely said. Szekely won fifth singles versus Irakli Tatishun in a tiebreaker set, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. "I really didn't think he had answers, so I ended up breaking him twice in the second for 6-3," Szekely said. "I stepped it up when I had to." Schwartzman defeated James Kent in fourth singles with a decisive score of 6-3, 6-3. However the junior was not entirely happy with the win and his frustration showed during the sets. "I felt I played poorly, the other guy just played worse," Schwartzman said. "I beat him on technique just because I was a better tennis player, but, overall, both players played poorly." The aggressive style of the Mountaineers forced long, hard sets on the Quakers, including an intense tiebreaker between freshman Eric Sobotka and Ben Jacobs. The match was the match decider ending with Sobotka losing third singles 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (7-2). "I was shocked when we lost the doubles point and I was tight," Sobotka said. "That hurt me in the first set. I wasn't making a lot of returns. "The first set I was trying to serve in volley like I did last weekend. It was more advantageous to let him miss because I was the better ground server." The only other Quaker to win was sophomore Dominic Rioux who prevailed over Samora 6-2, 6-3. The Quakers must regain their motivation and if they are going to have a chance against its next opponent, the nationally ranked Miami Hurricanes. The contest takes place Saturday at 2 p.m. in Levy Pavilion.