It was a weekend of both individual success and missed chances for the Penn men's tennis team as it competed in the ITA Eastern Regional Championships at Levy Pavilion.
The Quakers entered four experienced players in the annual tournament. Senior captain Ryan Harwood, playing in his final ITA tournament, was defeated in the round of 32 by Cliff Nguyen of Harvard, 6-4, 6-0. After a first-round bye, he advanced by beating Yoku Kiuchi of Columbia, 6-3, 6-3.
"I'm not disappointed in how I played. I think I played pretty well," Harwood said. "Anyone you play in the ITAs is going to be a solid player."
The players were more than just solid. Ninety-six top singles players and 56 doubles teams from schools in the East made up the draw.
The amount of talent in the tournament made sophomore David Lynn's run at the crown even more impressive.
For the second straight year, he advanced to the round of 16 before falling to Chris Drake of Brown, 6-2, 6-0. He advanced the farthest out of all of Penn's entrants.
Lynn, too, received a first-round bye and then routed Matt Coin of Lafayette, 6-1, 6-2, in the Round of 64. He then clawed his way into the round of 16 by beating Eric Kochanski of West Virginia, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1, in the round of 32.
However, even Lynn himself was not satisfied with his performance.
"I played fairly up-and-down all weekend," said Lynn. "I think it was definitely possible for me to advance farther."
Other members of the Quakers shared a similar fate. Junior Alex Fritz cruised to the round of 32 before losing to Nate Emge of Penn State, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
Sophomore Craig Rubin failed to record a win in the main bracket as he lost to Rohan Saikia of Yale, 1-6, 7-6, 6-2, in the first round.
"We all got some matches under our belts," Harwood said. "I think we all believed we could have played better, but it was a step forward for everyone."
The singles' draw concluded yesterday as Oscar Chow of Columbia defeated Stephane Rod of Virginia Tech, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, to take the championship.
On the doubles' side, Dave Lingman and Mark Riddel of Harvard won the crown as they defeated top seeded Adil Shamasdin and Nick Goldberg of Brown in the final, 8-6.
Harwood and Fritz, representing the Red and Blue in the doubles bracket, were defeated in the round of 32 by David Goldman and Ryan Murphy of Yale, 8-3.
With the Fall season now over, the Quakers will have to wait until late January to play another official match.
However, Harwood, as well as the other players will not be taking this break lightly.
"Our main goal is to get in better physical shape," Harwood said. "When we are in a position to capitalize late in matches, we have to be able to put them away."
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