M. Tennis drops season'f final matches

The Penn men's tennis team had two more chances this past weekend to go out and prove just how good it really is. Unfortunately, the Quakers once again disappointed when the matches came down to the wire, losing 5-2 to both Columbia and Cornell. Penn headed to the Columbia Tennis Center on Friday knowing that the Lions' home-court edge on their clay courts would make an upset difficult. And the Quakers were right. The Red and Blue, who have tinkered with their doubles lineup all season long, still did not get it right on Friday. Nos. 1 and 3 were easily defeated, 8-1, while the No. 2 pair of Rob Pringle and Jordan Szekely put up slightly more of a fight, losing 8-4. "Our doubles did not go well at all. [Penn coach] Gordie [Ernst] compared the doubles matches to being at a funeral because we were so quiet and not communicating well," freshman Brian Barki said. "They won the doubles point and then got all fired up." And once the Lions got pumped, there was no stopping them. Only Brett Meringoff -- who came back from a 5-1 deficit in the first set -- and Barki recorded Penn wins; the rest of the team lost in straight sets. "Columbia is as tough as anyone at home and we aren't a steady enough team which you have to be on clay," first-year coach Ernst said. After Friday's loss, Penn returned home thinking that things could only get better against Cornell in the team's final match of '99. The Big Red were winless in the Ivy League this season before meeting Penn. Once again, though, things started off badly for Penn in doubles play. Only the No. 3 team of Eric Sobotka and Barki came away victorious, winning 8-5. The No. 1 and 2 teams lost 8-4 and 8-5, respectively, as Cornell seized the all-important doubles point. The Quakers, however, seemed to bounce back after doubles. Captain Jordan Szekely, competing in his last collegiate tennis match, played No. 1 and easily defeated Mike Halperin 6-3, 7-5. No. 2 Sobotka also earned a win, turning back Greg Artzt 6-3, 6-3. While it appeared the Quakers were making a comeback, a win was not in their future. The tide slowly began to turn against Penn as sophomore Joey Zupan, playing the longest match of the competition, had two match points but simply could not finish his opponent, eventually losing 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(7-4). That trend continued with the rest of the team as all of the Quakers came close but could not pull out wins. "Cornell was really disappointing for us? we knew we should beat those guys," said Pringle, a Daily Pennsylvanian photographer. "We just let it slip away. One or two points here or there made the match." With that tough loss, the long season came to a close. Despite finishing with a 1-6 record in the Ivies, Penn has plenty to look forward to for next season, as well as much to be proud of about '99. Although young and mostly inexperienced, the Quakers finished with an impressive 10-3 spring record in non-Ivy play. After a disappointing fall, the team managed to come together and earn tough spring wins against Brown, Hawaii-Hilo and West Virginia. Furthermore, Penn clawed its way from an early season mid-100s ranking to a peak of No. 68. Although departing senior Szekely will be sorely missed, Penn awaits the arrival of top recruit Ryan Harwood, one of the nation's top juniors players. Harwood will join team MVP Meringoff, team player of the year Barki, Sobotka -- the team's most inspirational player -- and Pringle, the most improved, in forming the foundation for the 2000 Quakers. While a winless final weekend may put a damper on Penn's spirits, when the Quakers reflect in years to come they may well see this as the year in which the groundwork was laid for a run at the Ivy title.