Men's tennis coach Nik DeVore likes winning - but he sees an advantage to losing, too. "Losing matches is not such a bad thing because then we get to play consolation games," DeVore said. Consolation matches, and the experience that comes with them, should not be hard to come by for the Quakers today at the Columbia Invitational in New York.

As the women's tennis team heads to Flushing Meadows - the annual site of the U.S. Open - coach Mike Dowd hopes his players will be able to enjoy New York City. But he also has moderately lofty goals for this weekend's National Tennis Center Invite, which he hopes will give his young team some valuable experience.

Penn men's soccer captain John Elicker has a chip on his shoulder. That may be surprising, considering his 7-1-3 Quakers just lost their first match of the season and reeled off seven straight shutouts to open their schedule. But heading into tomorrow night's match at Rhodes Field against Columbia (2-6-1), Penn's previously impregnable defense has looked very vulnerable, surrendering eight goals in its last four games.

Chris Wynn set the tone when he returned the game's opening kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown, as the Quakers cruised to a 27-10 win over Georgetown. Bradford Blackmon was out with a sore ankle and Mike DiMaggio was a non-factor, but freshman Matt Hamscher - seeing his first NCAA action - more than picked up the slack.

Some coaches may look at a match between Penn and Columbia's women's soccer teams and ask: How do the Quakers plan on stopping the Lions' potent duo of Sophie Reiser and Ashlin Yahr? But Quakers coach Darren Ambrose looks at it another way: How does Columbia plan on stopping Penn's Sarah Friedman, Molly Weir, Ursula Lopez-Palm and Marin McDermott? Ambrose is confident that when Columbia (8-2-1, 2-0-0 Ivy) visits Rhodes Field for a pivotal Ivy matchup tonight, his Quakers (6-3-1, 2-0-0) "will be able to control the tempo, play at our pace . and essentially impose ourselves.

The question for Yale is: How long until Mike McLeod's numbers matter? How long can the running back's production drop like subprime mortgage values before it is impossible to deny that something is off? Coach Jack Seidlecki and McLeod himself have said that he is healthy, and pointed out the obvious - McLeod is leading the Ivy League in rushing, at 88.

Sun Tzu once said: "Every battle is won before it is fought." Or was it Penn field hockey midfielder Rachel Eng? At least, those are the sentiments she echoed as the Quakers (2-8, 1-2 Ivy) get set to face No. 1 Maryland (11-1) on Sunday at College Park and then No.

The Penn volleyball team split its Fall Break matches, losing, 3-1, at Cornell on Friday before sweeping Columbia one day later. The Quakers jumped out to an early first-set lead against the Big Red and held on for most of the set. But up, 18-13, the Red and Blue came unwound and dropped 10 of the next 12 points en route to a 25-22 Cornell win.

This week in practice, the volleyball team pitted its starters against the reserves, with the former challenged to win the set down 20-17. "We couldn't get it for the first five times, and then they started to shrivel like they did against Princeton," coach Kerry Carr said.

Who has a bye in college football? Few other than Georgetown, which enters its home game with Penn tomorrow fresh from two weeks' rest after a stomach virus outbreak forced its game against Colgate to be cancelled. Contrast that with the Quakers (1-2, 1-0 Ivy), who are a bit beaten up.

With former Penn wrestling coach Zeke Jones on his way to Colorado Springs, attention now turns to the Quakers' future. Athletic director Steve Bilsky is now left with two options: Make Rob Eiter, Jones' former assistant and current interim coach, the full-time coach, or hire from outside Penn.

The men's soccer team had its five minutes of fame, but it appears that's all the glory the Quakers will get for the time being. Penn moved into the No. 26 spot in the Collegesoccernews.com poll and No. 19 on the NSCAA coaches' poll Monday after 3-2 wins over Villanova and Cornell.

Men's basketball coach Glen Miller can sleep a little bit easier these days. Carson Sullivan, a 6-foot-2, 170-pound left-handed combination guard who plays for Charlotte Christian School in Charlotte, N.C., gave his verbal commitment to Penn last week, according to multiple college basketball recruiting sources.

The veterans of the women's soccer team may be feeling a little lopsided these days. Their current record of 6-3-1 is nearly identical to last year's mark at this point in the schedule. But unlike 2007 - the Ivy Championship season - when Penn began 3-1-1, the Quakers stumbled out of the gates in 2008, losing three of their first five, but now they're finding a winning rhythm.

Having spent the past 20 years in lockstep, defensive backs Josh and Nate Powers have one cardinal rule: Never pursue the same woman. Perhaps that's because, as twins, they've already demonstrated the mischief they can cause when girls can't tell them apart.

The Quakers' trainers are being kept busy this week. Two key players - cornerback Tyson Maugle and running back Bradford Blackmon - suffered injuries in Saturday's win over Dartmouth. As reported in yesterday's DP, Maugle broke his nose in three places. According to coach Al Bagnoli, he underwent "a procedure" today and is doubtful for this weekend's game at Georgetown.

As Lehigh forward Kyle Evans took his overtime shot from 30 yards out, Penn keeper Drew Healy lost his footing on the dewey turf. The ball ricocheted off the left post and into the net for the game-winning goal. "That's a save [Healy] makes 99 percent of the time," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said.