The Penn men's tennis team put on a nice show for the home crowd last weekend, winning three of the four singles titles at the Penn Classic.
The field consisted of players from Ivy League rivals Harvard and Princeton, as well as Penn State, Temple, and St. Joseph's.
In the 'A' flight, Penn senior Fanda Stejskal held true to his tournament No. 1 seeding, breezing by Harvard's Brent Saiontz, 6-2, 6-2, in Sunday's finals.
To reach the finals, however, Stejskal had to defeat a pair of tough opponents on Saturday, Princeton's Daniel Friedman and teammate David Lynn.
Friedman extended Stejskal to a third set tie-breaker and held a match point before Stejskal closed out the match, 11-9, in the tiebreaker.
Against Lynn in the semifinals later that day, Stejskal found himself a set down but again rebounded to take the match, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4.
"I was glad I didn't have to play long [in the final]... because I was exhausted," Stejskal said after his straight-sets victory over Saiontz.
Stejskal's victory was a good measure of revenge for the Quakers. A red-hot Saiontz took out Penn senior co-captain Brian Barki and junior co-captain Ryan Harwood in earlier rounds.
In the 'B' flight, Penn junior Andy Kolker also lived up to his No. 1 seeding, defeating Penn State's Josh Rubens in the finals.
Penn freshman Todd Lecher bounced back from a second-round loss to Rubens by winning the 'B' flight back-draw, 6-2, 4-6, 10-8, over Princeton's Brian Nachtigall.
In doubles action, Kolker and Lecher defeated Harwood and Barki, 8-7, but ultimately fell to the Crimson duo of Saiontz and George Turner in the semifinals. Saiontz and Turner went on to win the doubles tournament.
The Quakers' domination at the Penn Classic this year marks a change from past years' results.
Last year, no Penn player made the finals.
"It was good because other Ivy rivals were there and we managed to set a tone," Stejskal said. "That was different from other years where we were easy prey."
Six members of the Red and Blue squad will next play in the ITA Regional tournament at Princeton on Oct. 26-28.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.