Yale Kicks Off Ivy Season With Win Over No. 61 Penn

John Huang. (photo by Sam Rubin '95, Yale Sports Publicity)

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's tennis team (9-7, 1-0 Ivy) opens its spring season with a 5-2 win over the No. 61 Penn Quakers (10-3, 0-2 Ivy) on Friday. The Bulldogs started off strong, capturing the doubles point with wins at all three positions.

At No. 1, sophomore Marc Powers lost in three sets to senior Hicham Laalej. Although Laalej missed last season due to injury, the senior was named first-team All-Ivy in the 2008-09 season, and was also the Moroccan Under-18 Vice Champion. Sophomores John Huang and Daniel Hoffman both won their matches in three sets, at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively.  Junior Erik Blumenkranz defeated Jason Lin in a quick two sets. Senior Jordan Abergel rounded out Yale's win with a two-set win at No. 6.

The Quakers opened their season on Thursday, falling 4-3 to the No. 58 Princeton Tigers. Although the Red and Blue captured the doubles point, they won only two singles matches at No. 3 and No. 6.

Last season, the Bulldogs earned their first win of the Ivy Season in similar fashion – defeating Penn 5-2 on the road. Key wins for the Bulldogs came from Powers, Huang, and Hoffman at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4 respectively.

Yale will host Princeton on Saturday at 2p.m. at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center. Last season, Princeton edged past Yale 4-3 in Yale's opening match of the Ivy Season. Harvard was the only other Ivy team to defeat Yale last season.  

Report by Courtney Kaplan, Yale Sports Publicity