On Senior Day at Levy Pavilion, none of the team’s seniors were able to walk away with a victory in their matches.
They weren’t alone.
In Sunday’s match against No. 45 Columbia, the Quakers were crushed, 7-0. In fact, only one singles player, freshman Jeremy Court, even won a set.
Coach David Geatz admitted his team was overwhelmed by a superior team. He called the Lions the best singles lineup Penn played in the Ivy League.
In order to challenge Columbia, Geatz explained that the Quakers “needed a couple more guys in the lineup and needed to be healthier.”
The Lions (18-4, 5-2 Ivy) are still contenders for the Ivy League title, but will need another team to beat league-leading Harvard.
The Quakers played their last road match earlier in the weekend against Cornell. On Friday, the Quakers lost, 5-2, against the unranked Big Red (10-15, 3-4) in Ithaca, N.Y.
Penn (10-10, 2-5) fell behind early against the Big Red after losing the doubles point and the bottom three singles matches.
With the match clinched, freshman Jeremy Court and junior Rob Wong took No. 1 and No. 3 singles, respectively, in super-tiebreakers.
Sunday was Senior Day at Levy Pavillion, as it was the Class of 2012’s final matc.
Geatz was quick to recognize the importance of the seniors to the team.
He called Phil Law “one of the best captains I’ve had in 30 years of coaching.”
Geatz also acknowledged senior Jason Lin’s tremendous work ethic.
“Jason was almost finished with tennis last year, but he practiced unbelievably hard and put in a great effort this year.”
Both players will be missed as they had over 60 career singles wins each. Law finished his career, 69-48 and Lin finished at 61-47.
Reflecting on the year as a whole, Geatz accepted that the team did not meet its preseason goals.
“We always wanted to do better,” he said. “We had enough talent to win the Ivy League.”
He explained that a variety of injuries and off-the-court problems often prevented the team from putting its best lineup forward. Still, Geatz is optimistic about next season.
One bright spot for the Quakers this season was Court, who was undefeated in the Ivy League until his loss on Sunday. Court’s top win of the season came on Friday when he won at No. 1 singles against Venkat Iyer of Cornell.
Though the Quakers will not be playing again for five months, Geatz expects his players to stay in shape over the summer.
“Some of these guys will be working 80-hour weeks, but I think [they] will play over the summer.”
In fact, Geatz believes that the team’s chances next season will depend on their effort during the offseason.
If his players don’t stay in shape over the summer, they will be pushed by a top-20 recruiting class, which includes three players whom Geatz believes could potentially start.
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