Shaky M. Tennis drops two of three over Spring Break

The Penn men's tennis team has been impossible to figure out lately.

Before the Quakers' match with Army on March 8, co-captain Ryan Harwood spoke about the team's consistency issues.

"Coach tells us that one day me and [Brian] Barki will play well, and another Fanda [Stejskal] and [David] Lynn will," Harwood said. "We need to show up and play well at the same time."

The Red and Blue did anything but that in the last few weeks.

Against an average Army (7-4) team, Penn lost, 4-3, in Philadelphia. The Quakers were swept in doubles, which has been a rarity for them this season.

"We really hate to have someone come into our house and beat us like that," Penn co-captain Barki said. "The first two doubles courts were up big, and for me to lose my singles match like that [a close third-set tiebreaker]... I was torn up afterwards."

Stejskal and Harwood lost as doubles partners, but both recovered to take singles matches later. Anthony Pu also prevailed for Penn.

But the Quakers' doubles disappointment caught up with them, as the three singles wins were the only points the Red and Blue could muster against the Cadets.

Three days later the Quakers took their show on the road, and, at first glance, left their troubles in Philadelphia.

Stop number one on their four-day North Carolina road trip was Davidson. The Quakers swept into Tobacco country and demolished the Wildcats, 7-0.

"The Army match really woke us up," Stejskal said. "We weren't ready for Army with doubles, which cost us. But against Davidson we were looking to redeem ourselves, to show we can play."

The Quakers won eight of nine total matches at Davidson, and only dropped two sets the entire day, a polar opposite from the performance Penn had just a few days earlier.

Rain then gave the Quakers and extra day off when their Tuesday match with Charlotte was postponed.

The poor weather created a two-day down period for the Red and Blue to prepare for their final match of the Carolina voyage, a showdown with College of Charleston, a team that was 7-2 at the time.

Continuing their tendency to be unpredictable, Penn was routed by the Cougars, 5-2.

Stejskal and Harwood returned to their doubles futility, getting edged, 9-8, and Stejskal retired in second set of his singles match as a result of sickness.

Barki teamed up with freshman Todd Lecher to grab the only doubles triumph the Quakers would have, and Barki then went on to win his singles match.

Freshman Pu won his third singles match in as many contests, bringing a glimpse of normalcy to the Red and Blue's rollercoaster of a week.

"He's been playing really inspired lately," Barki said. "We all need to be playing like he does. He's been chasing down balls that he may not have a few weeks ago."

Penn will try and return to its previous home success this weekend when it faces off against 2001 Atlantic-10 champ St. Bonaventure (10-5) on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Then Sunday the Quakers will head to Navy (8-6), where the Midshipmen are trying to end a three-game losing streak.

"We really need to get these two," Barki said. "We want to get these under our belt before Princeton."

This will be the last match for the Red and Blue before the start of the Ivy League season, against the Tigers nonetheless.

"The Ivy season is what it's all about. I don't remember even some of the good [non-Ivy] matches I've played before," Stejskal said. "But I remember every single Ivy match."

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