For a brief moment on Friday afternoon, Penn men's tennis coach Mark Riley harbored hopes of upsetting the top seed in the USTA/ITA Team Indoor Championships.
"We pushed the No. 1 team in the country," Riley said. "We had chances to win."
But the Florida Gators held off the Quakers, eventually posting a decisive 4-1 result at the Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle.
In the consolation bracket, Penn lost 4-0 to Baylor before beating No. 11 seed South Carolina, 4-2.
Penn jumped out to a 1-0 advantage against Florida by winning two doubles matches. Jonathan Boym and Mikhail Bekker defeated Florida's Janne Holmia and Greg Oullette, 8-5, while Justin Fox and Brandon O'Gara outlasted Nester Briceno and Stefan Tell, 8-6.
The Quakers looked poised to strengthen their advantage, as Jason Pinsky and Boym won the opening sets at No. 1 and No. 3 singles, respectively.
But Penn's early successes were neutralized by the Gators' depth in singles. Penn lost in straight sets at No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6.
Yet to Riley's delight, the team bounced back yesterday morning with a convincing 4-2 victory over the Gamecocks, as Justin Fox and Brandon O'Gara posted straight-set victories at the No. 5 and No. 6 singles slots.
The tournament marked the second time that the Quakers won the final contest of three consecutive matches over a weekend. Penn defeated Nebraska in Tallahassee, Fla. in February.
"It shows the fitness and tenacity of our team," Riley said.
This weekend marked Penn's first appearance in the prestigious USTA-ITA indoor tournament since 1976. Had the Quakers beaten Florida, it would have been the first tournament victory for an Ivy League team since 1986.
Even though the Quakers could only score one upset in the Northwest this weekend, Riley noted that the team's showing was clearly a boon to its chances of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.
"We were the talk of the tournament," he raved.
