Princeton ends M. Tennis streak

The Quakers had won three straight dual matches coming into Saturday's Ivy League opener. In the Eastern Intercollegiate Tennis League opener for both squads, Princeton defeated the Penn men's tennis team Saturday afternoon at the Lott Courts. The Tigers, who defeated Penn last season, 6-1, managed a 5-2 victory this weekend, with the Quakers only able to eke out two singles victories. "This was an encouraging result," Penn freshman Ryan Harwood said. "Princeton has a very good team but we were prepared. We showed a lot of improvement, but Princeton was able to take the big points, especially in the doubles matches." Penn's spring season, which opened January 29 against Virginia, had yielded a record of nine wins and eight losses heading into the league opener. The Quakers' pre-conference record included a season-best three-game winning streak that the team was riding into Saturday's match. Penn closed its spring break excursion to Hawaii with a shutout win over Chaminade, which they followed with lopsided victories over Temple at home on March 24 and Navy on the road on Wednesday. The Red and Blue did not fare as well against the Tigers, who carried an 11-5 record into Philadelphia for Saturday's contest. Penn began the match in a one-point hole, dropping all three doubles matches to the Tigers duos. Doubles matches have been a sore spot for the Quakers recently, with two losses to Temple followed by sweeps at the hands of Navy and Princeton. All of the Penn-Princeton doubles matches were hotly contested, each ending by a score of 8-6. In the ensuing singles matches, Penn took its two victories with wins at No. 3 and No. 5. Penn's Harwood continued to perform strongly in his first year of college play, claiming a victory in two sets, 6-2, 7-5, at the No. 3 position. He bested last year's Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Princeton sophomore Judson Williams. Harwood has been remarkably consistent for the Quakers, going undefeated in singles play since the team was swept by Hawaii-Pacific on March 16. The Quakers' other win came after two sets of a match between Princeton sophomore Darren Joe and Penn junior Joey Zupan. The players split the first two matches, with Joe taking the first set, 7-6, and Zupan taking the second, 6-3. The victory was ceded to Zupan when, with Princeton's win already in hand, Joe aggravated a minor injury. He retired before the third set. The remainder of the matches fell to Princeton in straight sets, although every singles match included at least one set that was played to seven games. This is a positive sign for the Red and Blue, who will look for a turnaround at home against Brown on April 7. At the top of the Penn order, junior Fanda Stejskal, ranked No. 9 regionally, dropped his match, 7-6, 6-3, to Princeton junior Kyle Kliegerman, a second-team All-Ivy selection last season. Stejskal's past two matches were victories over the No. 1 and No. 5 players in the region, Mitchell Koch of Navy and Pero Pivcevic of Temple. The Quakers head into next weekend preparing to host Brown on Friday and Yale on Saturday. "Brown and Yale will be a big weekend for us," Harwood said. "They have comparable rankings to us, but [Penn coach] Gordie Ernst has us working harder than any team in the Ivies." The Quakers will look to resume their winning ways beginning Friday afternoon at the Lott Courts when they square off against Brown.

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