Jonathan Boym's tennis career has drawn to a close. And while he finished his career with a bang, earning one of three singles wins for Penn yesterday against Cornell, his team's results will leave something of a bitter taste.
Despite the senior's 7-5, 6-3 win, the Quakers fell at home to the Big Red, 4-3. Penn also lost 5-2 at Columbia Friday, closing out its last Ivy weekend with two losses.
The No. 56 Lions (15-5, 5-1 Ivy) - who clinched the Ivy League title with a win over Princeton yesterday - defeated the Quakers (10-12, 1-6) for the third straight year as they won four of six singles matches and all three doubles matches.
Boym had a chance to win Friday, but he couldn't capitalize on match point in the third set tie-break, falling to Bogdan Borta, 7-5, 2-6, 11-9.
"It doesn't get any closer than that," Penn coach Nik DeVore said.
Despite the final result, the Quakers were able to come away from New York with wins from junior Hicham Laalej and freshman Phil Law, the No. 1 and No. 4 players, respectively.
For Penn, these bright spots just aren't enough.
"They competed well," DeVore said of his players, "but when it comes right down to it they are competitors and they are disappointed that . we have not found a way to get over the hump and get one of those big wins."
DeVore also stressed that these last few losses may have been disappointing, but they should not carry over to next season.
"It's easy to say what we could have been or should have been, but the fact of the matter is that we didn't do it," he said. "We don't want the guys to go into the offseason thinking that they should not feel good about the way they competed. They should be able to sleep well at night."
But the Quakers' may lose sleep over the loss of Boym, who will graduate in May. Boym, a player who DeVore dubs the "heart of the team," battled through a labral tear in his shoulder the entire season to compete for the Quakers.
"Jonathan has been great," DeVore said. "He has got just so much heart, because it takes him two or three days to recover from every match as his shoulder gets heavy and he is playing at probably 60 or 70 percent of his capacity.
"He still is finding ways to beat good players like he did [yesterday]. This is my second year with him and I wish I had him for four years."
Boym, on the other hand, cared more about his victory against Cornell (14-5, 5-2).
"This was my last match ever at Penn," he said. "I was just in the zone and I wanted this match bad. . I wanted to make sure that I stamped a 'W' on the last match of my Penn career."
But Boym is not worried about the Quakers' future. He thinks that his team is in good hands going forward.
"The structure and leadership is in place," he said. "Our two freshmen may not have performed up to their potential this Ivy season . but I see them being really serious players in the Ivy League for the next three years.
"We had a tough season . but our 1-6 record just doesn't show how hard we fought this season."
