M. Tennis gets mixed results from two athletes at ITA Rolex

Penn's performance at the ITA Rolex Regional at Princeton this past weekend was far from dominating. With only two Quakers participants, the team had little room to work with during its final individual tournament of the year. Virginia Tech's Adan Marchetti won by default over Harvard's Kunj Majmudar to capture the singles crown while Harvard's Scott Clark and Mike Passarella won the doubles title after defeating Princeton's Mike Sweeney and Ahn Liu 6-4, 6-4. Sophomore Eric Sobotka and senior Jordan Szekely were Penn's lone representatives at Princeton's Jadwin Gym. Yet both fell short in the end because neither could convincingly put his opponent away. After a second round walkover over Fairleigh Dickinson's Alex Cole, Szekely succumbed to Virginia Tech's Niles Oggesen in a bizarre 1-6, 6-2, 6-0 match. Everything was perfect for Szekely in the first set. He exploited his opponent's weaknesses, consistently attacked, served great and most of all, played intelligently, according to Penn coach Gordie Ernst. "Jordan played the best [first] set of any Penn tennis player this fall," Ernst said. "He was giving this guy a clinic by taking him apart like a surgeon. His game plan was perfect." "The bottom line is that he stopped playing to win and began playing not to lose," said Ernst. Up a set and trying to maintain the lead, Szekely started playing to defensively for his own good. Mentally worn out and a bit too overcautious, Ernst said Szekely began deviating from his game plan of picking apart his opponent from the base line. "He knew he needed to close it, and he started playing a little passively in the second [set], trying not to make a mistake," teammate Sobotka said. "And then, his opponent started getting some confidence." Ernst was not shy in admitting his disappointment. "I have a problem when we have guys who lose to players not as good as them. Jordan is, without a doubt, the better player. That is what makes it so frustrating." Sobotka, Penn's first singles ace, encountered the same inconsistencies in his match that Szekely faced. After receiving a bye early on, he fell short in the second round to Princeton's fifth singles player, Alex Zakharia, in a 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 marathon. "I came out extremely flat in the first set after waiting about four or five hours to play, " Sobotka said. "He came in very confident after making a great showing against a top player from Harvard the week before." "And when a kid gets a win like that, he starts believing he will win when the match gets tight," said Ernst. "That was the difference. It's not like he stepped it up a notch, but he just believed that he was going to win, even when Sobotka was taking control of the match." Sobotka indeed roared right back into the match, blanking Zachariah 6-0, and effectively garnered some confidence for the deciding third set. Yet Sobotka couldn't cash in on any of the numerous opportunities he had in the last set. "I squandered two double-break points in his first two service games of the third set," Sobotka said. "He came up with some big passing shots, and once he saw that I was making mistakes and couldn't execute, he started thinking he could win." The Quakers duo fared a little better in doubles by defeating Oscar Lopez and Nikhil Misra of UMBC 8-6, but fell short against Princeton's Kyle Kliegermann and Kevin Woo 8-5. The Princeton loss makes it Penn's 14th loss out of 15 meetings against Princeton in doubles this year. With the arrival of a new coach, four incoming freshmen and the departure of last year's top player, the Quakers tennis team is only in its growth and repair stage. "We are building the foundation, and the hardest part is the digging of the foundation," Ernst said. "But it is also the most crucial part."