Revamped M. Tennis prepares for ITA regionals

After a fall season spent adjusting to a slew of lineup changes, the Quakers are confident heading into the ITAs. The Penn men's tennis team entered this season having lost just one athlete to graduation. Yet, the team that has emerged in the past two months has a completely different make-up than the one that took to the courts last spring. Gone are current Penn seniors Dominic Rioux and Uday Garg. Sophomore Brian Barki recently announced his decision to quit the team. And the top of the lineup has two new faces -- sophomore transfer Fanda Stejskal at No. 1 and freshman Ryan Harwood, the current No. 3. After a fall season of adjusting to the many changes on the squad, the new and improved top of the ladder now has a chance to shine. The top four Quakers -- Stejskal, Harwood and co-captains Eric Sobotka and Brett Meringoff -- all head to Princeton this Thursday for the ITA Eastern Regionals. The tournament is not only Penn's last contest of the fall, it is also the most important. This weekend's two finalists in both singles and doubles will advance to Nationals. Even more crucially, the tournament's outcome helps determine national rankings. While this weekend's competition will be fierce, the Quakers are confident they will be well represented at the ITAs in both the singles and doubles competitions. In singles, Stejskal, Harwood and Sobotka will compete, while in doubles the No. 1 team of Meringoff and Harwood will represent the Red and Blue. Stejskal, after transferring to Penn this fall, has had a stellar season, claiming the Quakers' No. 1 spot and at one point putting together a string of six impressive wins. After an uncharacteristically poor showing at the Penn Conference Classic, in which he was the No. 2 seed, he looks to reassert himself. "Fanda is just getting adjusted and he's still put up some great performances," Penn coach Gordie Ernst said. "I couldn't be happier to have him on the team -- he fits in beautifully." Another Quaker who has had a tough adjustment to make this year is Harwood. But the Long Island native has made the transition from high school to college tennis look almost easy at times. He began his season by posting a 3-1 record at Clemson and continued his strong play at subsequent tournaments. He feels he can still improve his performance, though. "I think overall I had a pretty good fall, but I know I can do a lot better," Harwood said. "Still, I think I showed the team that even though I'm a freshman, I can play." While Harwood may have had to prove himself to his teammates, there was never any doubt about junior Sobotka's play. "Eric is 'Mr. Dependable.' You know he's going to show up and he's going to play hard," Ernst said. "He has put a lot of time and effort into his game." For all his hard work, though, Sobotka is still waiting for his effort to translate into a big win. He has played consistently throughout his career at Penn, but has yet to make a major breakthrough. Regionals seems to be the perfect place for that to happen. Conversely, for Penn's doubles team of Meringoff and Harwood, it is not a breakthrough the players seek so much as consistency. After proving their ability in a strong showing at the Princeton Fall Invitational -- where they lost a close 9-8 match to the tournament's No. 2 seed from South Carolina -- they have since failed to live up to their potential. This weekend is the last chance for the duo to show that it can compete with the best in the nation on a regular basis. "We're definitely capable of playing very well together," Harwood said. "Brett is an excellent net player and I have a good serve and return so we complement each other. We have a bright future in the spring and I think we can do well here." For Meringoff, playing well this weekend is only the first step towards the pair's larger goal -- a national ranking. "I think that we're one of the better doubles teams in the region and I think this tournament is going to be a good indication of that," Meringoff said. "Our goal is to be ranked high nationally and doing well in this tournament is the way to attain that." By the end of the weekend, the Quakers will know where their top players stand. But, no matter where that may be, the end of the fall season is really only the beginning. Despite having to overcome a few lineup surprises in the fall season, the Quakers believe they have made the most of any adversity and head into the winter training period ready to compete in the spring.

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