Half the team was in high school when the Penn State men's tennis team lost to Harvard in the ECAC Championships last year.

The freshmen -- Michael James, Chris Sherman, and James Dwyer -- had only heard about the loss from their teammates and coaches.

They did not know how tough collegiate tournament play could be.

However, the fear of playing against a nationally ranked team did not even have enough time to sink in. Penn State tennis coach Jan Bortner said he knew what was to come ahead for his team.

"The competition this year was much, much harder," Bortner said.

The Nittany Lions faced a situation much like last seasons': an upset over heavily favored Brown University in the semifinals, and a finals match with Harvard University.

With last year's 4-0 loss to Harvard in the finals only a memory, the team seemed ready to go.

After sweeping Rutgers, the Lions went up against a much-improved Columbia team and came back to win.

"This year was a lot harder with Columbia and Brown being even stronger," Bortner said.

Brown was the Lions' next opponent and a team that Penn State upset the year before. The resilient freshmen helped the team to a comeback after trailing.

The Lions started by losing two out of three matches in doubles play, and gained a 4-3 victory through singles play. Dwyer and James both won their singles matches in the comeback.

The Lions had reached the finals for the second straight year and the Crimson of Harvard were once again there to meet them.

"Our aggressive style showed how we can compete with a top-20 team," Bortner said.

James had the only victory against a Harvard player, but there were two matches, which the Lions were winning, that were stopped in the middle because Harvard had already won the overall competition.

"If those matches are completed, we lose 4-3 to one of the top teams in the country," Bortner said.

Junior Malcolm Scatliffe and Dwyer both lost in close contests. Scatliffe went to a third set and Dwyer lost in two straight tiebreakers.

However, Bortner said he was pleased with his team's effort.

"I'm very proud of the play this weekend," Bortner said. "We're just knocking on the door of the top teams."