Back in the driver's seat after 2 big wins

The men's tennis team is now once again in control of its own destiny. Thanks to decisive 6-1 and 5-2 victories over Yale and Brown, respectively - paired with Princeton losses to the same two teams - the Quakers (11-8, 2-1 Ivy) catapulted themselves back into a tie for second place with four matches remaining.

"It's very big because if we win every match now, at worst we'll be in a playoff," sophomore Adam Schwartz said. "After losing to Princeton we were pretty down and had a lot of injuries. [The Brown match] is probably the best win since I've been here."

Although Penn was expected to beat Yale, Brown was ranked No. 73 just one week ago and is one of the top contenders for this year's Ivy League title.

But on Saturday, Penn's third doubles tandem of Schwartz and junior Justin Fox set the tone early, dispatching their opponents 8-1 in just 40 minutes.

"[Third] doubles hasn't been the strongest point in our lineup," Schwartz said. "We were trying to get off to a good start and help out our top two doubles teams."

First and second doubles quickly followed suit with 8-4 victories for the doubles sweep.

Then, playing at fourth singles, Schwartz came up big again, recording the Quakers' first individual victory. After losing 6-1 in the first set, Schwartz turned the tables against Brown's Basu Ratnam, taking the next two, 6-1, 6-4.

Schwartz said that, at the start of the second set, he believed that Ratnam was still not fully warmed up.

"I was trying to break him in his first service game . and I got on top of him early," Schwartz said. "I gained a little confidence in the middle of the second set."

His comeback was emblematic of the Quakers' mental and physical toughness since their Ivy-opening loss to Princeton.

Due to injuries to Fox (ankle) and fellow junior Jonathan Boym (torn shoulder), coach Nik DeVore was forced to shake up the singles lineup. Sophomore Justen Roth lost in three sets at No. 6 singles, while senior Eric Riley played above his usual slot to pull out a 5-7, 7-6, 6-1 victory.

"I think our team has really matured over the year," said senior Joseph Lok, who himself fought through an elbow injury to win in straight sets.

"Schwartz last year would lose almost every three-set match, but this year he's starting to turn it around. After getting killed in the first set, he came through for us."

The Quakers were emotional throughout the match, sometimes getting under their opponents' skin. At one point during his singles loss to Jason Pinsky, Brown's Saurabh Kohli threatened Fox for what Kohli perceived to be trash talking.

"Our matches with Brown are always extremely intense," Lok said. "Both teams have very feisty players, to say the least. Words are always exchanged - we've gotten in a fight with them basically the last three years."

And while the Quakers control their own destiny if they win out, this Friday they're up against No. 45 Harvard.

"It's still going to be a tough road, especially going on the road at Harvard," DeVore said. "That's the highest ranked team in our conference, and you'd have to say the favorite going in . But if guys play like this, then we can do it."

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