After a successful fall season, the Penn men's tennis team was on a quest this spring to prove it belongs among the nation's elite. Having lost to all seven ranked teams it faced heading into spring break, the team had come up well short.
But after two wins against ranked foes over break, the Quakers may have at least put themselves in the discussion.
During their trip to Boise, Idaho, the Red and Blue picked up 6-1 wins over No. 61 Utah and then-No. 69 Oregon after losing to No. 27 Boise State for the second time this season.
The Quakers (4-10) followed up with a trip to Tulsa, Okla. where they lost 5-2 to both No. 10 Oklahoma State and No. 22 Tulsa.
Penn, which now sits at No. 69 came into the season as the highest-ranked Ivy League team at No. 50, but has since fallen behind Brown and Princeton in the rankings. Nevertheless, the pair of victories over ranked teams may begin to justify Penn's status as the team to beat in the Ancient Eight this year.
"We're starting to look like the team that we were hoping to be at the beginning of the season," coach Mark Riley said. "The guys are getting more confident and they're just learning how to deal with playing the top teams."
The Quakers were particularly impressive in the doubles matches, an area they had struggled in for much of the season. They picked up the doubles point in three of the five matches.
"I think the guys feel better about our doubles," Riley said. "We have a more aggressive attitude when we play doubles."
Standing out individually was the play of Jonathan Boym, who went 4-1 at the No. 2 singles spot during the trip.
"He is not ranked, but he is as good a player as I see in the country," Riley said of Boym.
At the No. 1 singles spot, Jason Pinsky may have had something to prove heading into the trip as he had fallen out of the rankings. But by going 3-2 and posting a victory over Boise State's Luke Shields, who came into the match ranked No. 7, Pinsky propelled himself back up to No. 50.
"He's a really strong player," Riley said of Pinsky. "I don't really look at the rankings because he's playing the same as when he was unranked."
Riley said the team will need more than just good play from its top two players to be successful in the remainder of the season.
"We've had some good performances from different guys, now we're just trying to get all of those good performances at the same time," Riley said. "That's what it's going to take to win the Ivies."
Though it was a losing trip record-wise, their two wins may be enough to propel the Quakers to being the favorites once again.
