Of the three teams Harvard used, only one—that of Chu and junior Brandon Chiu—has any history, and that only extends back to the end of last spring’s season.

“We played a much crisper match,” Fish said of the second day of competition in comparison to the first. “On paper, I thought that Penn was a pretty difficult team to take on.”

Freshman Ashwin Kumar would probably agree, as he dropped the third singles match 6-3, 6-3. The loss followed a solid win from Friday, and the weekend provided Kumar with his first big tournament experience.

“He’s has been doing fine,” Fish said of his rookie. “It’s a big move to put a freshman up there, but he’s perfectly capable of playing at that level. I think he’ll be fine. [His loss] just sort of stands out when everybody else wins.”

Not only did every other Harvard player win, but senior Martin Wetzel was the only other player to drop a set, doing so in his 6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-4 victory.

Chu continued his dominance in the top spot with a 6-1, 6-4 win and the bottom three singles players—Dhaka, captain Jason Beren and Valkin—all dispatched their opponents handily.

HARVARD7, ST. JOSEPH’S 0

The scores were tight in doubles competition, as Kumar and Wetzel pulled out a 9-7 win and Dhaka and Beren an 8-6 victory. But when it came to singles, the Crimson showed no mercy.

Harvard lost just 22 games throughout the six matches, with Chu and Wetzel losing just two apiece and Beren and Valkin just three.

“We knew we were going to have easier matches,” Chu said of the beginning of the draw, which paired top-seeded Harvard with the bottom-seeded Hawks, “and we got a warmup match, essentially.”

Indeed, it was something the Crimson needed after a couple weekends of sluggish performances, and the team’s collective showings only continue to improve.

“We were able to get some rust out of our engine and get some energy,” Fish said of the first days of competition.

—Staff writer Rebecca A. Seesel can be reached at seesel@fas.harvard.edu.