M. Tennis | Harvard halts home streak

As Hicham Laalej's singles match against Harvard slipped away, so too did the Quakers' hopes of a perfect home record and a winning season in the Ivy League.

After taking the first set from Crimson senior Chris Clayton, the Penn junior was in control, leading 4-2 in the second set. But in a matter of minutes, the feisty Clayton - the No. 1 player in the Northeast - seized the momentum of the match and never looked back, ultimately winning nine straight games into the third set in a 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 victory.

Penn as a whole didn't do much better, as Harvard won, 5-2, at Levy Tennis Pavilion Saturday afternoon.

However, the weekend wasn't all bad, since the Quakers picked up their first Ivy League victory Friday, downing Dartmouth 6-1.

Laalej's loss to Clayton Saturday - also a product of elbow pain that worsened as the match wore on - represented a disappointing ending to Penn's first home loss of the season.

"[Laalej] had his chances but just let it slip away a little bit, and then Clayton pounced on that opportunity that Hicham gave him," Penn coach Nik DeVore said. "That's tennis: You can actually look at one point in a match sometimes and say, 'Maybe this is a turning point.'"

At the same time that the Morocco native was battling Clayton at No. 1, junior Justen Roth was locked in a tight contest with Harvard senior Michael Kalfayan. Penn was down, 3-2, and Roth's eventual three-set loss (4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)) for a time looked to be the tie-breaking match.

"I honestly thought Hicham was going to win; I thought I was the deciding match because [the crowd] was on my court," said Roth, Penn's No. 6 player. "That was the first time that ever happened to me so it was a new experience for me."

The close defeat at the hands of the Crimson (10-9, 3-2 Ivy) came after the Quakers (10-10, 1-4) cruised against the Big Green (4-14, 0-4) by winning every singles match - all but one in straight sets.

"On paper we're supposed to win that much, but Dartmouth always plays us tough," DeVore said. "We thought that [match] was going to be good preparation for [Harvard]."

Freshmen Jason Lin and Phil Law combined to win three of their four matches over the weekend - Law dropped a match against Dartmouth - including Penn's lone victories against Harvard.

"Up to this point, it's been kind of up-and-down for both of them," their coach said. "[Saturday] they beat two of the best Ivy League players in the league at their positions, and handily, so they just showed what they're capable of."

The freshmen's performances provided optimism during a season marked by bad fortune - "Just a couple of points here and there and we could be 4-1" in the Ivies, DeVore noted.

With the Ivy title and a winning season now out of Penn's reach, the Quakers will assume a new role in their upcoming matches against Columbia and Cornell, which are both in the hunt for the league title.

"We can play spoiler for somebody," DeVore said of the last two matches. "It's kind of fun to try to play spoiler."

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