With about a month left in the Penn men’s (5-7) and women’s (9-4) tennis season, the teams are ramping up for a big run of Ivy League and non-conference matchups. Both teams have had outstanding records thus far at home, with both teams undefeated at the Hamlin/Hecht Tennis Centers.
But on the road, the men’s team so far endured a harsh March. Without the benefit of home-court advantage, the Quakers went 0-3 against No. 45 Pepperdine, No. 34 UCLA, and No. 54 Wisconsin. Despite the final score of 5-2 against UCLA, the Quakers put up a notable fight — taking two out of the three doubles matches, but only going 1-5 in some incredibly close singles games that went in favor of the Bruins.
“We’re definitely ready to be back [at home]," senior Edoardo Graziani said. "We’ve been on the road for a long time now and I know we’ve been a little bit unlucky in some of those closer matches, but we feel that we can really turn it around now that we’re looking more at home court advantage moving forward.”
Five of the next nine games will be held at Penn, so the familiarity could be a contributing factor to the Quakers' potential success.
The women’s tennis team has fared better overall, with a .692 win percentage. Mirroring the men’s team, the women’s schedule sees five of the next eight games being played at Penn — four of those against Ivy League rivals. The Quakers have been playing well as of late, going 5-2 in their last seven games. Sophomore Sabine Rutlauka extended her singles win streak to 10 last weekend versus Temple, where the Quakers won 5-2 to improve the team's record to 9-4 on the season.
With the bulk of the work still ahead of Penn, senior Kevin Zhu emphasized the teams have one objective in mind, saying that “it’s just about making the most of every moment on the court.”
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