UC-Riverside broke its pre-match team huddle yesterday by erupting in a chorus of "1, 2, 3. FIGHT!" If its match against Penn was indeed a brawl, the Highlanders left Levy Tennis Pavilion in the same condition as the rest of the Quakers' home opponents this season - black and blue.
Men's tennis cruised to a 6-1 victory over UC-Riverside in a match that took place indoors due to cool, windy conditions at Lott Courts.
In un-Quakerly fashion, the Red and Blue (8-6) have been taking visitors to the woodshed during their home matches, compiling a 5-0 home record and yesterday dropping only their third team point out of a possible 35.
The doubles portion of the match was - as has become all too typical this season - the lone blemish of Penn's performance. The Highlanders (4-13) took the doubles point when freshman Felix Macharez and sophomore Quoc Doan downed Penn juniors Hicham Laalej and Adam Schwartz at the No. 1 spot.
"They seemed to want it more than us, which is troubling," Penn coach Nik DeVore said of UC-Riverside's doubles teams.
But DeVore gathered his team in the locker room prior to the singles matches and "reminded the guys that this is our home court and we've got to defend it." The pep talk led to a dominating singles performance - the Quakers did not lose a set - that was almost too good for DeVore.
"To be honest, I was hoping we'd have a few three-setters," he said. "[But] at least we had to overcome some adversity."
No. 1 Laalej faced the toughest challenge from UC-Riverside No. 1 Macharez. After easing in the first set, 6-2, the Stetson transfer faced set point in the second set but ultimately pulled out a 7-6 victory by winning the tiebreaker, 7-4. Though the junior was not satisfied, he understands that the experience will only help when the Ivy League season starts Saturday at Princeton.
"Playing a battle the week before Ivy League starts always helps you to get some confidence," he said. "You know that you're able to win . no matter how well you're playing."
Jonathan Boym sat out his fifth straight match due to a shoulder injury. DeVore seemed confident that his captain would be able to play through the pain with more on the line.
"He's been playing pretty hard in practice and we didn't want to take a chance because it's all about the Ivies now," he said.
Laalej, for his part, is eagerly anticipating his first Ivy action.
"I hear everybody talking about it, saying that it's a whole different story, that people are going to be screaming [and] . very pumped up," he said.
