Sophomore Luka Butera prepares to play the ball against Yale on Sept. 17, 2023.
Credit: Cynthia DongThis past weekend, Penn men's tennis competed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Indoor Championships — hosted at the Hamlin/Hecht Tennis Centers on Penn's campus — as it looked to build off recent road success.
Last weekend, the Quakers traveled to SEC country and took on NCAA Division I giants Tennessee. Despite falling to the Volunteers 1-6, the Quakers rallied for a double header sweep against Elon and Tennessee Tech the next day.
At ECAC, Penn men’s tennis soared over Yale but fell to Harvard and Cornell. Their 1-2 record on the weekend led the Quakers to a fourth place finish and an 8-3 season record.
On Feb. 14, the first day of the Championships, the Quakers defeated Yale in a close 4-3 win. This is the second time this season the Quakers have successfully taken on the Bulldogs, a strong team that has a doubles pair and a singles player ranked nationally and recently downed Penn State.
Singles went to a deciding sixth match where freshman Shaurya Bharadwaj came back from a set down to seal the deal for the Quakers. Another impressive singles win came from senior Tal Goodman in straight sets, securing the third-seeded match. On the doubles side, Penn found their form with victories coming in the second and third seeded matches.
“We pride ourselves on being a team that’s pretty good in doubles and a win in doubles is huge because it shifts the mentality,” Bharadwaj said. “Starting singles with 1-0 instead of 0-1 just helps take some of the edge off.”
Moving into the semifinals, the Quakers took on Harvard — falling 4-0 as the Red and Blue failed to convert on multiple set-deciding tiebreaks. The Crimson went on to win the whole championship.
“I think we have to keep working on the basics like first serve percentage, returns in doubles, and making sure we can find the court on a defensive shot,” coach Rich Bonfiglio said. “In no ad scoring, the margins are thin so these are things that go a long way.” No ad scoring is where the first player to reach four points wins the match.
The semifinal loss left Penn fighting for third place against Cornell on day three. An early victory came in the top-seeded doubles match by freshman Sanjeev Chandu and sophomore Aaron Sandler. The Big Red tied the Quakers after winning the third-seeded doubles match.
So, the doubles point came down to sophomore Parashar Bharadwaj and Goodman in the second flight. The match went to an eight point set tiebreak where Parashar Bharadwaj and Goodman came up just short.
“Harvard and Cornell are top 25 teams and if we’re putting ourselves in these situations where it’s coming down to ties, it’s bound to go our way at some point,” Shaurya Bharadwaj said.
For singles, Penn dropped three out of four matches, handing Cornell a third-place finish while the Quakers had to settle with fourth.
“I think we really brought the energy this weekend,” Shaurya Bharadwaj said. “That’s something we can control and it helps put pressure on the other team. But we know the better teams we play will be better at handling it.”
The ECAC features seven Ivy League schools as well as Delaware. Given that the Quakers got to face three league teams early on, they will be better prepared when the Ivy season begins in March.
“It’s always great to see where you stack up within the league,” Bonfiglio said. “They’re our biggest rivals and we were able to advance to the semifinals which puts us in the top half of the league. We’re knocking on the door.”
For now, the Red and Blue will stay at home as they prepare to take on VCU and Fordham in a doubleheader on Friday, Feb. 21.
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