Up 5-3 in the decisive third set of his match against Princeton on Saturday, Penn junior Justin Lavner went up for an overhead shot. When he came down, an agonizing pain in his left leg forced him to fall to the ground and nearly retire from his match.
Lavner, however, fought through the pain and eventually held on, coming from behind to defeat the Tigers' Sratha Saengsuwarn, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4).
"Everyone on this team puts in such hard work at practice," he said afterward. "I wasn't going to retire.
"In the tiebreaker I was going on adrenaline. My leg was still hurting pretty badly."
Unfortunately for the Red and Blue, they could not follow Lavner's lead and close out enough matches, losing their Ivy League opener in heartbreaking fashion to Princeton, 4-3.
The Quakers won the opening doubles point, as Anthony Pu and Jimmy Fairbanks came from behind in a 9-8(7) win over Princeton's pair of Saengsuwarn and Tim Kofol.
"We saved some match points in the doubles," Penn coach Mark Riley said. "But the team was a little too excited after winning it."
Riley believed that the team eased up after winning the doubles points and did not open its singles matches with enough intensity.
"Some people were standing around waiting for someone else to win," he said. "We need to go out and win all six points."
Riley may have been referring to junior co-captains David Lynn and Craig Rubin, who both quickly dropped their opening sets. Both players fought valiantly in their second sets, but each came away empty handed with identical 6-2, 7-5 losses.
After a Todd Lecher victory and a Fairbanks loss, the Quakers trailed Princeton 3-2. Both Lavner and freshman Mikhail Bekker pushed their matches to three sets, but before Lavner's gutsy victory, Bekker fell to Princeton's Darius Crayton, 6-7, 6-2, 6-2.
"We need to close out matches," Riley said. "We had opportunities, but not everyone closed it out."
After the match, the disappointment was tangible on the Quakers' faces, as they knew they had let a golden opportunity slip through their fingers.
"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize the magnitude of Penn versus Princeton," Riley said. "Our team was up for the match and Princeton was very excited to get out of here and steal a win."
Penn was equally challenged on Monday, facing an Army team that had previously beaten Princeton and Columbia. The Red and Blue responded by defeating the Black Knights, 6-1.
However, the bitter taste from the Princeton loss will certainly linger.
"In the end," Riley said, "you're judged by how you play against your peers."
Princeton 4, PENN 3 Singles
1 -- Friedman def. Lynn (PENN) 6-2, 7-5
2 -- Crayton def. Bekker (PENN) 6-7, 6-2, 6-2
3 -- Lavner (PENN) def. Saengsuwarn 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4)
4 -- Lieu def. Rubin (PENN) 6-2, 7-5
5 -- Lecher (PENN) def. Gopstein 6-4, 6-0
6 -- Kofol def. Fairbanks (PENN) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
1 -- Crayton/Friedman def. Lavner/Lecher (PENN) 8-5
2 -- Pu/Fairbanks (PENN) def. Kofol/Saengsuwarn 9-8(7)
3 -- Lynn/Bekker (PENN) def. Lieu/Gopstein 9-7
PENN 6, Army 1 Singles
1 -- Sabia def. Bekker (P) 6-2, 6-2
2 -- Lavner (P) def. Albornoz 6-1, 5-7, (10-5)
3 -- Lecher (P) def. Fisher 6-4, 6-1
4 -- Rubin (P) def. Good 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
5 -- Fairbanks (P) def. Dill 6-1, 7-5
6 -- Pu (P) def. Collins 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
Doubles
1 -- Pu/Fairbanks (P) def. Sabia/Albornoz 8-6
2 -- Lavner/Lecher (P) def. Good/Salas 8-0
3 -- Rubin/Bekker (P) def. Fisher/Roybal 8-4
