Injury-riddled M. Tennis trounced on Virginia trip

(Penn - 1, W&M; - 6) (Penn - 1, ODU - 6)

Before the trip to Virginia this past weekend, Penn men's tennis coach Mark Riley said that these two matches would show his team "where they fall."

This weekend, the Quakers fell short.

Coming off of a pair of home routs against Richmond and St. Joseph's, Penn traveled to Virginia to face two of its toughest foes -- No. 51 William and Mary and a dangerous Old Dominion -- on Saturday and Sunday.

The Quakers not only lost both matches, 6-1, but they left from Norfolk on Sunday a completely different team, and not in a good way.

The Red and Blue -- already without freshman Craig Rubin, who may have broken his wrist last week -- lost two other key members of their team this weekend.

While freshman Todd Lecher did not play because of an ailing shoulder, his injury was not the greatest one the Quakers suffered in Virginia.

With a 5-4 first-set lead at No. 4 singles, junior Andy Kolker stumbled and fell to the ground in the middle of a point. Kolker had to retire from the match, forfeiting to William and Mary's Joe Brooks.

Kolker will undergo an MRI tomorrow, but the team believes his ACL is torn, which would sideline the junior for the remainder of the season.

"We were all in close matches, and Andy was winning," Penn's No. 1 Fanda Stejskal said. "Our position right now could be very bad [after the injuries]."

Stejskal and his partner Ryan Harwood lost their doubles match, 8-4. Stejskal was also unable to pull through in a close singles match, losing a rare super tie-break in the third set.

The Czech Republic native was unhappy with the officiating in his defeat.

"The referees were not great," Stejskal said. "I was broken because of a controversial foot-fault, and he won the first set because of an overruled call."

Despite the injuries, the Red and Blue kept the contest tight. Only one match, No. 6 singles, was a straight-set loss.

Freshman David Lynn picked up the lone Penn victory, winning 7-6, 3-0, when his Tribe opponent retired.

Against Old Dominion, the Quakers brought an injured roster and suffered another 6-1 defeat in a close set of matches.

Stejskal and Harwood won their doubles match, 9-7, the Quakers only doubles' triumph of the entire weekend.

"Both [doubles matches] were close," Stejskal said. "We just got a couple more breaks the second day, a few more bounces that we did not get on Saturday."

Although the Quakers dropped the doubles' point, Stejskal grabbed a victory at the No.1 singles spot.

Stejskal rolled for the Red and Blue's only point against the Monarchs in a, 6-1, 1-6, 7-5, win.

David Lynn and Brian Barki both took their matches to three sets, but both fell in the final frame.

After the defeats with the undermanned roster, the Quakers' captain could only try to put a positive spin on the losses.

"I was very happy with the way we played," Stejskal said. "We did what we could."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.