Sophomore Mikhail Bekker knew this was a match where he could focus on improving his play, but he certainly did not take his opponent lightly, dropping only three games in two matches.
Sparked by Bekker's dominance, the Penn men's tennis team returned from its five-match spring break excursion out West to earn an easy 6-1 victory at Levy Tennis Pavilion yesterday.
From the outset, the Quakers (11-3) played like the superior club as all three doubles pairings were in sync. Yielding even a single game to the Midshipmen (8-7) seemed unfathomable early on as all the shots were falling Penn's way.
The doubles teams -- led at No. 1 by Bekker and David Lynn's 8-1 victory -- swept Navy to claim the doubles point, only letting the Middies take four games in the three matches. That set the tone for the rest of the afternoon.
Tas Tobias and Anthony Pu, playing at No. 2, put up an 8-3 victory over Adrian Lai and Davy Lee. There was no drop-off at the third spot as Penn's Brandon O'Gara and Todd Lecher shut out Stanley Kahl and Nate Malnati.
"I think we showed a really good performance today," Bekker said. "We're all really playing well and concentrating."
Early on in his singles match, Bekker stayed on serve with Brandon Carter before breezing to a 6-2, 6-0 win at the top singles position. Penn won its third point of the day at No. 3 with Tobias' 6-1, 6-3 victory over Kahl. At No. 4, resilient play led to Lecher topping James by a 6-2, 6-3 score. Penn's Jimmy Fairbanks picked up his victory by the same margin over Haley Dodson. Freshman Joseph Lok's 6-2, 6-1 drubbing of Lai gave the Quakers their sixth and final point of the match over the Midshipmen.
The one sore spot on the afternoon came at No. 2 singles. Playing in Lynn's regular spot for the first time all season, a vocal Justin Lavner suffered a hard-fought 6-4, 6-3 loss to Lee.
Coach Mark Riley saw the matchup with Navy as a steppingstone to Ivy League play, which starts in less than two weeks.
"We've been working all year trying to get our singles and doubles play meshing at the same time, and it's starting to happen."
For Penn players, this pre-Ivy match was seen as a chance to improve shortcomings in their individual games.
"I'm definitely working on some things, especially in this match," Bekker said. "I was working especially on my net game, and I think my serve was really good today."
Earlier this year, the overmatched Midshipmen were swept 7-0 by Penn's Ivy League foes, Brown and Yale.
Riley summed up Penn's current standing.
"We're winning matches, we're doing a pretty good job, and we've earned a national ranking."
The Quakers are now ranked No. 67 in the nation.
