Too bad Penn's first win in a month had to be tainted by bad tennis etiquette.
Following a 7-0 shutout of Drexel (1-3), sophomore Jonathan Boym, neglected to shake opponent Omar Laalej's hand after Boym won a heated 7-6, 6-4 battle until his coach Mark Riley forced him to return to the court.
Drexel coach Tricia Udicious muttered "embarrassing" as the Quakers filed into the locker room under the orders of their irate coach.
Penn's team and coach were not made available for comment after the incident.
The win should have put Penn on a much-needed upbeat note considering its tough start to the spring season. After an opening-day shutout versus St. Joseph's, the Quakers dropped seven straight matches to top-100 teams.
The chance to knock off neighboring Drexel was scheduled last week after Penn's matchup with Rutgers was cancelled.
"They got some good players and we got the chance to play some guys that haven't played," Riley said of Drexel.
Seeing a weaker opponent, Riley seized the opportunity to give freshmen Simon Bekker, Alex Vasin, and junior Andy Magnes their first playing time this spring. All three won in straight sets.
Like Boym, junior Joseph Lok played up in the lineup. After a slow start, he handily beat the Dragons' Joe Koebele 6-4, 6-0 at second singles.
"It wasn't too bad; a little tougher than usual," Lok said. "My energy level was really bad in the first set; I didn't sleep last night," - an allusion to Penn's prominent slate of midterms this week.
Freshman Adam Schwartz, a regular in the singles lineup, won easily in the four spot, 6-1, 6-1.
Meanwhile, in doubles action, the Quakers swept Drexel with their usual suspects.
"We just needed to give them a chance to play together," Riley said.
Now, Penn prepares to head out west for spring break. The team starts this weekend in Boise, Idaho, where it will face Utah, Oregon, and No. 19 Boise State, who dropped the Quakers 4-1 at the recent National Indoors.
"We have to act like we're 7-1 not 1-7," Riley said. "Hopefully this competition will help us down the road."
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