M. Tennis: Quakers shut out Hawks, not for the first time

Jason Pinsky saw this one coming.

After all, his Quakers shut out cross-city rival Saint Joseph's 7-0 last year. And the year before.

The men's tennis team broke the ice on its spring season yesterday, shutting out the Hawks inside the Levy Tennis Pavilion and putting an early exclamation point on a campaign to break into the NCAA Tournament.

"It's always good to get the first match out of the way," Pinsky said. "We've been training so hard all year long and it's actually putting it to play. We feel solid and got to keep rolling."

Pinsky led the Quakers rout, beating the Hawks' Jarrett Chirico 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1 singles.

"It was a good gauge as to where I am," Pinsky said. "I'm trying to continue to work hard, leading by example."

"Pinsky played solid as heck," head coach Mark Riley said. "He beat a nice player."

Earlier in the match, Pinsky teamed up with newcomer Eric Riley, a transfer from Virginia, at the top doubles slot. The two juniors easily rolled over Chirico and his brother, Chris, by a score of 8-1.

The Quakers won the other two doubles matches, 8-4 and 8-2, for the doubles point.

"We did a good job in doubles," coach Riley said. The two "played some good doubles. [Jonathan] Boym and [Justin] Fox played good doubles" as well.

Boym, who played second singles in place of the injured Mikhail Bekker, overcame a rough start, beating the younger Chirico 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

"I had a very rough fall last year," Boym said. "This is my first match back in maybe three months. I was extremely nervous. I really didn't know what to expect out there. I've known Chris for a long time. I was just getting adjusted to the ball, my serve, the environment."

Although Penn had already clinched the match, Boym opted to play a full third set as opposed to the standard ten-point tiebreaker once the match had been decided.

Thanks to Boym maintaining his composure, the Quakers completed an untainted match.

"After a set and a half, my coach said, 'just hang in there, and keep getting better,' and that's what happened toward the end."

Fox rolled to the easiest singles victory of the day, 6-3, 6-2 at the three spot.

Freshman Adam Schwartz had an impressive spring season debut, rolling to a 6-4, 6-3 win at five-singles .

Captain Brandon O'Gara needed a 10-point tiebreaker to win the final singles match, 7-6(3), 5-7, 1-0(10-6).

While the match score shows a decisive Quakers victory, St. Joe's put up a much stronger showing than in last year's shutout.

"St. Joe's is decidedly better," coach Riley said. "The talent they had from last year is improved . We did a good job and we got what we needed out of our first matches."

However, Riley does not believe the closer scores are necessarily a bad thing for his players.

"It's good to be in a situation where you're practicing finishing off matches or it's close," Penn's coach said. "It's going to help us later."

The victory is yet another for Riley over his former boss: St. Joe's assistant Gene Miller. Miller won seven Big Five championshps at Penn, but this city rivalry went to his former assistant coach.

The Quakers return to the courts Friday evening, looking to repeat last year's victory over visiting Central Florida. They also host Maryland Sunday afternoon.

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