Neither rain, nor sleet nor snow could stop the Quakers from trouncing Franklin and Marshall yet again.
Penn had won the previous four meetings by a combined score of 33-3, and last night -- the makeup for a Dec. 4 match postponed due to inclement weather - was no different.
The No. 14 Diplomats looked anything but diplomatic last night as they cursed and whined their way through a 9-0 loss to an overpowering No. 10 Penn team.
Mark Froot and Ryan Rayfield set the pace early, making quick work of their opponents with 3-0 shutout victories.
The Quakers never looked back from their early domination, not allowing the Diplomats so much as a single victory. Six of the nine individual wins were 3-0.
"Knowing that you're better . it's easy to have a mental lapse," co-captain Lee Rosen said, "and you lose a couple that you shouldn't."
Penn narrowly avoided that lapse, as Jay Baghat squeaked by F&M;'s Zarir Aibara 3-2 in the evening's final match.
With his entire team behind him yelling words of encouragement, Baghat missed several opportunities to finish his opponent before finally winning the fifth game, 9-7, securing the Quakers' dual-match shutout.
"I pulled ahead early and took my foot off the gas . but my teammates cheered me on to a win," Baghat said.
Baghat's match was one of only two that went the distance; teammate Pierce Cravens won the final two games, 10-8 and 9-4, to come back from an early deficit.
The Diplomats not only looked outmatched, but also exhausted and disgusted as they filed out of Ringe with their heads held low.
Parents and onlookers discussed dinner plans for the evening long before the match's end, in anticipation what the outcome would inevitably be.
But the players, at least, did not accept their destiny lying down.
"If I had any energy I could've won that match," an emotional Diplomat exclaimed to his mother following his defeat.
Penn coach Craig Thorpe-Clark still said the match was closer than the score indicated.
"We've always been competitive against F&M;, but these guys are improving," he said, "and they put up a tough fight."
Nevertheless, Thorpe-Clark was still "impressed" by his team's composure and skill as they recorded victory after victory with ease - a nice change from Friday's loss against No. 1 Trinity, when the Quakers won just one game in the whole dual-match.
"Everyone came out hard with focus, tonight was definitely a step in the right direction," Rosen said.
That step in the right direction couldn't have come at a better time for the Quakers.
They will spend the next two weeks facing off against No. 2 Princeton, No. 3 Harvard and No. 6 Dartmouth before heading back to Cambridge, Mass. for team championships.
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