M. Tennis romped by UVA at home

Virginia dealt the Penn men's tennis team its first loss of the season in convincing fashion on Saturday. The Cavaliers routed the Quakers, 7-0, in a matchup of previously unbeaten teams. Many of the matches on the day were competitive; however, Virginia (6-0) found a way to outlast the Quakers (3-1) in every match. "We had many opportunities to run away with some matches, doubles and singles, and we did not convert any of them," senior co-captain Ryan Harwood said. Penn's first opportunity came with the doubles point up for grabs at the beginning of the match. In first-seeded doubles play, Harwood and sophomore Anthony Pu were embroiled in a matchup with Virginia's pair of freshman Doug Stewart, the nation's 107th-ranked player, and senior Michael Duquette. The Cavaliers pair broke the opponents' serve early and then held for the rest of the match, resulting in an 8-5 outcome. "I was happy with my doubles match because we competed very well, but of course it's still aggravating to come so close and not win," Pu said. "I felt the team was beatable, but we didn't start off well, getting broken in the beginning right away, which cost us." Penn's second-seeded pair of junior Alex Fritz and sophomore Justin Lavner also had their opportunities against Virginia's pair of sophomore Stephen Nolen and freshman Rylan Rizza. The Quakers were able to break the Cavaliers' serve early in the match and maintained the lead until 5-4. However, Virginia closed the match winning four straight sets with the final tally 8-5. "Virginia started to return better, and there were a few key points," Fritz said. "Especially in doubles, if you do not win these points, the match is over fast." The Quakers' third-seeded pair of sophomores David Lynn and Craig Rubin were bested 8-4 by Virginia's freshman duo of Darrin Cohen and Stephen Rozek. In singles play, the Cavaliers only surrendered two sets, winning each of the six matchups. In first-seeded singles, Stewart defeated Harwood, 6-4, 6-4. "I went up 30-love on his serve many times throughout the match, and I only broke him once, which was the major difference in the match," Harwood said. The Quakers were unable to break through with a win in singles play. Virginia's Duquette beat Lynn 7-6 (2), 6-4, Fritz fell to Rizza 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, Nolan defeated Rubin 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, Cohen bested Pu 6-4, 6-3 and Rozek topped sophomore Todd Lecher 6-4, 6-3. Penn hopes to learn from this loss as the team looks ahead to next weekend's match against Old Dominion. "We learned that we need to be stronger in our minds, so we can be stronger on the court," Pu said. "But one thing I know about our team is that we are resilient, so I'm sure we will practice harder this week and bounce back against Old Dominion next weekend."

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