M. Tennis divides, conquers at Princeton and Cornell

The Penn men's tennis team began its season with a slew of solid results against Ivy League foes last weekend.

The Quakers split their squad in two, sending four players to the Farnsworth/Princeton Invitational in Princeton, N.J., and the rest to the Cornell Invitational in Ithaca, N.Y.

In a Princeton tournament riddled with upsets, the Red and Blue fared quite well in their early round matches. Penn senior Fanda Stejskal and junior co-captain Ryan Harwood, the tournament's third and fourth seeds, respectively, both advanced to the quarterfinals before being eliminated.

"We expected a bit more from ourselves, but it's not a great disappointment," Stejskal said. "It's the beginning of the season, so everyone was a little tentative."

Penn freshman David Lynn breezed through his first round match, 6-2, 6-1, before running into Princeton's Judson Williams, the tournament's top seed and eventual champion, in the second round.

While Penn senior co-captain Brian Barki was handed a first-round loss, he rebounded to win two matches in the consolation round before being forced to default due to leg cramps.

The highlight of the weekend for the Quakers, however, was their success in the doubles draw. Stejskal and Lynn advanced to the finals before dropping a tight match, 8-6. Penn struggled in doubles last season, so the duo's victories bode well for the team.

"It was a nice surprise," Stejskal said. "Dave played very experienced and it was a good matchup."

Meanwhile, at Cornell, the Red and Blue continued their steady play. In singles action, Penn junior Andy Kolker battled back to win the A flight consolation draw after falling early in the main draw. Penn freshman Todd Lecher mirrored this result in the B flight. Both players defeated starters from Yale, a top Ivy team, in the process.

In addition, three other Penn freshman won their opening matches, proving themselves ready for collegiate competition.

"It was a good weekend, especially at Cornell," Harwood said. "It's a good implication that we are a warrior team, that we're going to fight, and the freshman showed that they are really anxious for ECACs."

While the weekend was devoid of any real drama, it was instrumental in helping the relatively young Quakers team gain some valuable experience and giving them their first look at Ivy competition.

"Not a whole lot of people graduated and every school has had good recruiting classes," Penn coach Mark Riley said, "so the Ivies will be even tougher than last year."

"Overall, I think we're going into ECACs on a high note. We'll just be looking to keep improving."

ECACs, the Quakers' next fall tournament, will be held on Oct. 5-7 at Harvard.

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