With just two Ivy League matches left, Jonathan Boym and the men's tennis team are having a hard time figuring out exactly how their season slipped away.
"I don't know if one particular thing went wrong this season; I don't know," Boym repeated. Maybe it was "just a couple of bad breaks."
Coach Nik DeVore was just as puzzled as his captain as to why the Quakers (10-10, 1-4 Ivy) have become underdogs rather than contenders - like today's opponent Columbia (14-5, 4-1) and Sunday's opponent Cornell (12-5, 3-2) are.
"It's tough to put a finger on it, because the guys really competed well and really we were a few points away from having at least two more Ivy wins," DeVore said.
Though the team's first five Ivy matches may not have gone as scripted - Penn only won its match at home against Dartmouth last Friday - the Red and Blue have a chance to end on a high note with two teams with Ivy title aspirations on deck.
First up for the Quakers is a trip to New York to match up with the Lions, whom DeVore proclaimed "the favorite" to win the league. Columbia - currently tied for first in the league with Brown - is led by Romanian senior Bogdan Borta at No. 1 and Jon Wong, the only sophomore named first team All-Ivy last year, at No. 2.
"Their talent level is I think the best in the league," DeVore said. "They're going to be - to put it mildly - up for the match, because we could play spoiler."
Since Penn has already proven that it can beat Cornell - the Quakers defeated the Big Red 4-3 at the ECAC Championships Feb. 14 - it is Friday's matchup that is circled on the team's calendar.
"Beating Columbia at Columbia would be a huge deal, regardless of where we're going to finish in the conference," DeVore said.
A road victory at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center would certainly be a highlight of what has been a frustrating ending to Boym's career. The team's lone senior continues to battle a shoulder injury that allowed him to play only three matches last spring.
"He's a shadow of his former self," his coach said. "I'd say he's probably 50 percent of his capacity of what he was two years ago," when he was first team All-Ivy.
"It's been probably one of the toughest things I ever went through," Boym admitted. "One of the biggest challenges is to get out there . and know that I'm not competing at my highest level - the level I used to be competing at."
Through the pain, the team-first Boym realizes how far he's come this past year.
"A year ago I could barely finish one match in the Ivy League," the Marlboro, N.J., native said. "Now I'm going to finish all the matches."
The former Ivy League Rookie of the Year's emotions will surely be running high during his final weekend of Ivy matches.
"I really don't believe it; it feels like I'm going to be here next year and the year after," Boym said. "It's tough to swallow for now, but I'll worry about it afterward instead of thinking about it now. It's probably better for the team."
