It was a tale of two days for the men’s tennis team. After a tough 4–3 loss to Princeton in their Ivy League opener Friday in New Jersey, the Bulldogs bounced back Saturday with a solid 5–2 victory over Penn in Philadelphia. The split sends Yale’s overall record to 12–7 on the season, and 1–1 in Ivy League play.

In Friday’s match the Elis swept the top three singles matches and the No. 1 doubles match from the Tigers, but two Princeton doubles wins gave them the decisive fourth point they needed to edge the Bulldogs. Erik Blumenkranz ’12 teamed with classmate Joel Samaha ’12 to earn the lone Yale doubles win, while Marc Powers ’13, John Huang ’13 and Calvin Bennett ’11 took the No. 1, 2, and 3 singles matches, respectively.

“We felt if we played to our p0tential we would’ve won but we just didn’t play well enough,” John Huang ’13 said.

The Bulldogs then hit the road, traveling to Philadelphia for an Ivy League contest against the Quakers. Blumenkranz and Samaha won in No. 1 doubles yet again, but this time the duo of Huang and Bennett backed them up with a win at No. 2 to clinch the doubles point for the Elis.

Bennett joined three freshmen — Powers, Huang, and Daniel Hoffman ’13 — in earning singles victories for the Bulldogs. The freshman trio all won handily, each taking their matches in straight sets. The freshmen have led the way for the Elis all season, as Powers and Huang have both competed in No. 1 singles, and Hoffman has been a force in both singles and doubles this season.

“The freshmen played great for us,” Blumenkranz said. “They have done a great job so far this season.”

The Bulldogs return home for their next three matches — all against Ivy League opponents. The Elis begin the homestand on Friday at 2 p.m. against Cornell (15–7, 2–0). That will be followed by a Saturday afternoon date with Columbia (13–3, 2–0).

“Our unity and dogged tenacity was unmatched on Saturday and I hope we can hold on to those virtues next weekend,” Bennett said.