M. Tennis sweeps into heart of season

The Penn men's tennis team is back from its spring break trip to sunny Hawaii and is gearing up for April -- the hottest month of its season -- which brings with it the start of Ivy League competition. But before the Quakers began their conference season, they met Georgetown on Saturday at the Lott Courts for yet another tune-up match. Penn (7-1) continued its domination of out-of-conference opponents by sweeping the overmatched Hoyas, 7-0. In singles, Eric Sobotka, Dominic Rioux, Jordan Szekely and Uday Garg all recorded straight-set victories. Brian Barki and Rob Pringle were the only Quakers to even drop a set but both won the third and deciding sets of their matches. But this match was merely a prelude to more important matches for both teams. Georgetown (3-12) was gearing up for an upcoming Big East match against St. John's, while Penn -- which meets Army on March 27 -- was preparing to avenge last year's loss to the Cadets. Although the Hoyas' effort against Penn proved futile, Georgetown coach Rick Bausch was generally pleased with his team's play. "Penn historically has been a stronger team than we've been and it means that we have to do a very good job and play good tennis against them," Bausch said. "We're trying to get our confidence level up playing outdoors, and we're playing against good players so that we can go up another notch." While Bausch was pleased with the effort his team put in, Penn coach Gordie Ernst was less than impressed with the Red and Blue's play. "I was not happy with the way the guys played today. I'm happy in the sense that they did what it took to win but they did not play well," Ernst said. "They were tired, they had exams [and] after being in Hawaii for the week they were still jetlagged -- but they found a way to win and toughed it out. "You can't always play great but it is how you respond when you are not playing well, and that was what I am happy about," he added. With a win against the Hoyas, the Quakers are confident entering a tough week of competition in which they face Boston University and Army. If the Quakers pull out two wins, they will have tied last year's season win record of nine before the Ivy League season even starts. What makes that fact even more impressive is that the Quakers' 12-man roster is extremely young, featuring five freshmen and only one senior, team captain Szekely. "This team is definitely the youngest I've been on in my years here. Most of the guys weren't in the lineup last year," Szekely said. "What I like about this team is how well we get along and how everybody is focussed on the same goal. "Even though we have younger guys this year I think we'll do better than we've done in the past two years, which says a lot about what the coach has done and how dedicated the guys are," he added. The team's trip over spring break, although perhaps contributing to its lethargic win over Georgetown, helped the Quakers gain outdoor experience and brought them closer together as a team. "The spring break trip was very productive," Szekely said. "We got a lot of good practice in and we bonded and had some good outdoor matches." "We don't feel like a young team anymore," Ernst added. "We're very comfortable. We're growing together, which is good." The team now heads into April -- and the Ivy season -- ready to make some noise. "It's right there for us to do however well we want. It's kind of up to us right now," Szekely said. "A lot of the guys have not played through the Ivy League season so I'm sure it might be a little bit of an adjustment. But the guys have done so well in the past couple of months that I don't expect the Ivy season to be any different." While each Ivy match is equally important in the standings, some carry additional significance. In particular, the Red and Blue will focus on perennial foe Princeton, who they meet in their first Ivy match April 3. "All of our matches are to gear up for the Ivies and get ready for Princeton," Ernst said. "They really picked on us and had a lot of wins over us in the fall." On a more personal level, Ernst is focused on the April 9 match against Brown, his alma mater. "I told the guys if we lose to Brown, we're walking home," Ernst said. "And it's a long walk home from Providence."