M. Tennis makes quick work of foes

Things could not have gone much better for senior co-captain Andy Kolker and the Penn men's tennis team on Saturday. The Quakers swept their double-header with Lehigh and Swarthmore, and Kolker returned with a straight sets victory in his first match back after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Penn (2-0) only surrendered one team point on Saturday, as it shut out Lehigh, 7-0, and downed Swarthmore, 6-1. Penn coach Mark Riley was pleased with the Quakers' performance, especially the successful return of Kolker. "It's the best thing that could have happened with Andy coming back ahead of schedule," Riley said. "It would be great if Andy's hard work rubs off on the rest of the team." After spending a considerable amount of time sidelined with the injury, Kolker was very pleased to get back onto the court. "It feels great. This was the moment that I have been waiting for," Kolker said. "My motivation during rehab was to come back strong for a solid senior season." Riley was also impressed with the Quakers' aggressive doubles play, an aspect of their game that they have been working hard on in practice. The Quakers won five of the six doubles matches on the day, garnering both doubles team points on the day. In the first doubles match against Lehigh, Penn co-captain Ryan Harwood and sophomore Anthony Pu convincingly defeated the Engineers' pair of Ty Esler and Randall Smalley by an 8-4 margin. "Anthony and I were able to build chemistry as a team today and hopefully that translates for the rest of the season," Harwood said. The Quakers swept singles play against Lehigh without surrendering a single set. "We played really well, and it was a good match for us, as it builds confidence going into the remainder of the season," said sophomore David Lynn, the top-seeded Penn player against Lehigh. Lynn chalked up the success of his 6-2, 6-0 victory over the Engineers' Esler to his consistency on ground strokes and his return to serve. The Quakers' match against Division III powerhouse Swarthmore was equally one-sided. Penn was victorious in all three doubles matches and won five out of the six singles matches, one of which was Kolker's victorious return to the lineup. In his 6-1, 6-1 victory over Swarthmore's Justin Singer, Kolker dropped the first game in the first set. However, Kolker went on to break Singler's serve in the next game and never looked back. The Penn senior only surrendered one more game for the rest of the match. In all, the Quakers won all but three sets on the day and 16 out of 18 total matches. Penn looks forward to a week of practices before next weekend's matchup against Richmond. "We need to keep getting better in practice," Riley said. "It sounds like a clich‚, but you practice how you play."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.