Few winners for M. Tennis in Jersey

The Penn men's tennis team travelled to New Jersey for the Princeton Fall Invitational Tournament last weekend. The trip was not a rousing success, but there is some hope for the Quakers going into next weekend's ECAC Championships. "From a team standpoint I'm not satisfied right now, but we're getting better," Penn coach Gordie Ernst said of the overall performance. Ernst noted that the Fall Invitational is an individual tournament and that there were some good performances turned in by several Quakers. Eric Sobotka was the only Penn player to advance from the first round of the singles draw sheet, venturing into the quarter-finals with victories over Columbia's Flavius Stan (6-1, 6-4) and another Lion, Erik Zmara (7-6, 7-6). Sobotka was impressive with his effort in the quarter-finals against the tournament's top seed, Salil Sesharadi, also of Columbia. Sobotka fought hard, but fell in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6 (9-7). As one of the seven Quakers to suffer a first round defeat, senior Jordan Szekely was entered into the consolation draw. He fought his way through the field, winning four matches on his way to the consolation championship. In the final, Szekely defeated Virginia Tech's Jay Bruner in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6. Princeton sophomore Kyle Kliegerman, the tournament's No. 3 seed, defeated Penn freshman Kevin Strouse, 6-1, 6-1, on his way to the championship. The singles draw was comprised of players from Penn, Princeton, Columbia, and Virginia Tech. Szekely was also entered in the doubles tournament with Sobotka. The duo defeated teams from Virginia Tech and Columbia, both by 9-7 scores, before succumbing to Columbia's top team, Sesharadi and Sam Joseph, 8-3. Sesharadi and Joseph were the eventual winners of the doubles' draw. Another of Penn's doubles teams, Dominic Rioux and Mike Klatsky, fell to Princeton's top team of Kliegerman, the singles' champion, and Jeff Schacter, 8-6, in a hard fought semi-final match. "Their strength was definitely their return," Rioux, a junior, said. Although Rioux had his serve broken to end the match, it was an impressive showing considering that Rioux's scheduled partner, Joey Zupan, was unable to play due to injuries. "It was a pretty good combination. A couple of points and it could have gone either way," Rioux said of his combination with a different partner. "They played very well. I was encouraged," Ernst said, acknowledging it as one of the weekend's bright spots. At next week's ECAC Championships, a team event, Penn will be seeded thirteenth and face off in the first round against Princeton, the third seed. Despite the Tigers' complete domination of the Quakers at the Fall Invitational (8-0 combined doubles and singles), Rioux is confident. "It's a totally different mentality. This is our biggest event of the fall," Rioux said. "We're going to have to work hard, but it's an advantage that we know who we're playing. We'll be able to prepare for it better." Ernst is also hopeful that the Quakers can use emotion to rebound in the next event against Princeton. "It comes down to having some pride when you play against a rival -- to show that we're not a team to be taken lightly," Ernst said. Ernst asserts that "it'll have to be a team effort," but that "if we can come together, we're going to show some of these top teams what they're in for in the spring."