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It's not often that the Penn men's tennis team faces a former Israeli champion, the No. 40 singles player and the No. 23 doubles team in the nation, all in one weekend.

But in matches Friday and Saturday against Maryland and No. 43 Louisville, the Quakers saw their toughest competition all year.

With starters Jonathan Boym and Justin Fox out with injuries, Penn lost both matches 5-2 to fall to 7-3 on the season.

The Quakers stole the doubles point against the Terrapins (5-2) on Friday.

But from there, it was an uphill battle in singles. Freshman Amit Inbar - who won the under-16 and under-18 Israeli titles in 2001 and 2003, and also represented his country in the Davis Cup - beat Penn's senior captain, Jason Pinsky, 6-3, 6-4.

"It took me a while to get used to his game," Pinsky said after the match.

Penn found its lone singles win in senior Joseph Lok, as he outlasted Maryland's No. 2 David Kwon 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. Lok would record the Quakes' only singles win again on Saturday, defeating the Cardinals' David Simon 5-7, 7-6, 6-4 in a protracted battle.

"I've been battling injuries since I came back in mid-January," said Lok, who started in place of Boym, "but I feel almost 100 percent and I think it definitely showed this weekend."

Doubles was again the only bright spot against the Cardinals (11-2) on Saturday, as Pinsky and Lok soundly defeated the No. 23 team of Austen Childs and Simon Childs 8-2. Another pairs win gave Penn the point.

But apart from Lok's victory over Simon, Louisville dominated Penn's singles in straight sets, highlighted by No. 40 Austen Child's 6-1, 6-4 victory over Pinsky.

"It's just been mentally draining for our team not having two of our starters at the top of the lineup," Lok said. "Some of the guys who haven't had the chance to play before are getting their shot, but we haven't had to play teams of this level yet this spring."

Their next test without the duo will be a three-game West Coast road trip over spring break - an area of concern, given that all three of Penn's losses have been while away.

Still, the team remains upbeat. "We [will face] two teams that are around or slightly below Maryland's level, so as long as the energy is there we can hopefully come through," Lok said. "Our third match is against Berkeley, so it's going to be tough. We'll definitely have to step up our play."

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