As members of the Penn men's team huddled together in the front row of the Lott Tennis Courts on Saturday, the final result in their match with Harvard was already decided, and their senior captains' collegiate careers were already over.
However, the team showed its unity by supporting teammate sophomore Craig Rubin as he played the final match of the season in the team's 6-1 loss to No. 43 Harvard.
Rubin eventually dropped the match in a third-set super tiebreak, but the team is already looking forward to next year, while saying goodbye to seniors Ryan Harwood and Andy Kolker.
"It's going to be sad to see Ryan and Andy go, they brought a lot to our team," Penn assistant coach Joel Berman said. "They were also playing very good tennis as they ended their careers."
Penn coach Mark Riley has seen a change in his team that he hopes will translate into wins next season.
"The thinking is more not being competitive, the thinking is winning, and winning is the way we want to be," Riley said. "I think we're turning things around, I think we've got a good group coming back, we've got a good recruiting class, so I think we're going to move into the top half of the league next year, and that's what our goal is."
Over the weekend, the Red and Blue (11-9, 2-5 Ivy) notched their second consecutive Ivy League victory as they topped Dartmouth, 6-1, Friday after topping Yale, 4-3, on the previous Saturday.
"It was a real good win, we all played really hard," Kolker said. "I think it's the first time in at least three years that we've won Ivy League matches back-to-back."
"Overall, that's the best two matches that we've played back-to-back since I've been here," Riley said.
The Quakers got off to an early lead on the Big Green (10-13, 0-6) by securing the doubles point by winning two out of the three matches.
At No. 1 doubles, Harwood and sophomore Anthony Pu defeated Dartmouth top pair of senior Neal Bobba and junior Drew Dinkmeyer, 8-3. Junior Alex Fritz and Rubin secured the team point by beating juniors Borko Kereshi and Jesse Paer, 8-3.
"I thought No. 1 and 2 doubles really stepped it up today," Harwood said. "We were in control the whole time and played some really good doubles."
The Quakers only dropped one match in singles play and only three sets in all. Seniors Harwood and Kolker also tallied their final singles victories of their careers. Harwood beat Bobba, 6-3, 7-5, while Kolker topped Big Green freshman Raj Shrestha, 6-2, 2-6, 6-0.
Penn's loss to Harvard had a few bright spots. Sophomore Todd Lecher garnered the only singles match on the day for Penn in a 6-3, 7-6 win over sophomore Jason Beren. Also, Harwood and Pu combined to knock off the 57th-ranked doubles team in the nation, Crimson sophomore Jonathan Chu and junior Chris Chiou, 8-3.
"We played very well," Harwood said. "We didn't do anything special, but we didn't do anything wrong."
Standing on his home court, having completed his final collegiate match, the senior co-captain reflected on his time at Penn.
"I had a great career here," Harwood said. "I love it, I love the sport and I'm going to miss it."
