M. Tennis edges Rutgers in break from Ivy matches

The Quakers snuck past visiting Rutgers, 4-3, to up their record to 11-5. The Penn men's tennis team is currently in the midst of its most important stretch of the year -- the Ivy season. Yet walking past the Lott Courts yesterday, this fact was hardly evident, as the Quakers broke up the Ivy League monotony with a win over Rutgers. Penn just finished an important weekend on the road, coming home with a much-needed win against Brown and a loss to Yale. This coming weekend -- while most of Penn's campus will be enjoying a sober Spring Fling -- the men's tennis team will be at the Lott Courts hosting Dartmouth on Friday at 2 p.m. and Harvard the following day at noon. So, in the midst of the race for the Ivy Championship, the Quakers decided to take a break from the Ancient Eight race, as the Scarlet Knights (7-7) came to give Penn a non-Ivy match-up. The Quakers' three previous matches -- and four ensuing contests -- are all against Ivy foes. The Quakers (11-5) came into the Rutgers match hoping for an easy victory. But that was not to be. While the Red and Blue did emerge with a 4-3 win, the afternoon was marred by windy conditions and questionable calls by the Scarlet Knights. "There was a lot of controversy in the match surrounding bad calls on their part," freshman Alex Crisses said. "The umpire made a lot of overrules in our favor, which is indicative of what they were doing. Rather than sink to their level, though, the team got really emotional and we got into it." Not only were some of the calls sketchy, but so was the weather. The windy conditions kept many of the Quakers from getting in sync. Penn started off the match on the right foot, winning the coveted doubles point when the No. 2 team of Brett Meringoff and Dominic Rioux won, 8-5, and Eric Sobotka and Tyler Anderson, playing at No. 3, took their match, 8-4. In singles, though, some surprising results awaited the Quakers. Meringoff, coming off an amazing come-from-behind win at Brown on Friday, was beaten in straight sets at No. 3. Furthermore, freshman Brian Barki -- normally counted on to pull out important wins -- lost his match in three sets. Playing at No. 5, Barki became embroiled in conflict with his opponent Florian Mihai in their first set over the match score. When the umpire ruled in Barki's favor, Mihai broke down crying. While Barki won that first set 6-3, he wound up losing the last two, 6-3, 6-2. "This team was awful; they cheated and were obnoxious," Barki later said. "That just made losing my match so much worse. I can't believe I lost to a crybaby." Eric Sobotka, who has encountered Mihai previously, called him "the worst cheater I have ever seen in my life. I don't even have the vocabulary to describe how bad this guy really is." While Barki and Meringoff's matches may have been disappointing, Sobotka, senior captain Jordan Szekely, and sophomore Rob Pringle, all pulled out wins at Nos. 1, 4 and 6, respectively. Sobotka defeated Scarlet Knight Arjun Viswananthan relatively easily, by a score of 6-2, 6-4. The straight set defeat was all the more surprising considering Viswananthan brought a 10-1 record into the match. His only previous defeat had been to Yale's No. 1. Szekely -- who normally plays doubles but did not yesterday -- took a while to find his rhythm, losing his first set, 6-4. However, he eventually made necessary adjustments and overpowered vocal opponent David Birnbaum 6-3, 6-1 in the final sets. By far the most interesting match, however, was that of Pringle. After being blanked 6-0 in the first set, the Daily Pennsylvanian photographer came back to claim a victory, 6-1, 6-4. Pringle's road to victory has been a difficult one. After suffering a season-ending back injury in the fall of his freshman year, Pringle missed out on months of practice. He gained clearance to play only days before school resumed this September. "It was pretty tough trying to come back. I was playing god-awful tennis. It was pretty atrocious," Pringle said. "Plus, we had a new coach [first-year head coach Gordie Ernst] and he just thought I couldn't play." Pringle's hard work and dedication to the sport have finally paid off. And he has not only made an impression on Ernst, but on his teammates as well. "Rob played a very important role in this match. He really showed a lot of poise out there and kept himself together," Sobotka said. "He's been working hard and he's playing the best tennis I've ever seen him play." With the break from Ivy competition that Rutgers represented now over, the Quakers must gear up for a return to their regularly scheduled Ivy programming -- they host the Big Green and Crimson this weekend.