M. Tennis kicks off play with high hopes

For the Penn men's tennis team, this is a year of rebirth.

After a disappointing spring season in which the Quakers finished 1-7 in Ivy League matches, there is new hope on the horizon.

With eight new freshmen coming in and the top three players from last year's squad returning, the Red and Blue look to challenge for the Ancient Eight crown in the spring. This weekend, at the Princeton and Cornell invitationals, they have the chance to set the pace for a strong year.

The Quakers will send four players to Princeton to participate in a 32-player round-robin tournament that features some of the top players in the region.

Penn senior Fanda Stejskal and junior co-captain Ryan Harwood go in seeded third and fourth, respectively. Ivy powerhouses Princeton and Columbia will also be represented in the deep field.

Meanwhile, eight other Penn players will travel to Cornell to participate in a four-flight tournament.

Penn tennis coach Mark Riley sees this weekend's tournaments as a chance to give his young squad some match-play experience and to gauge where the team stands going into ECACs in two weeks.

"Quite a few players have shined in intra-squad matches, but I want to see how they shine against players in other uniforms," Riley said.

Although the tournaments are both individual, Penn senior co-captain Brian Barki believes that they will be instrumental in helping the team gel.

"It's a chance for the team to grow together, to get the chemistry that's so important for spring," Barki said.

According to Harwood, if anything, last season's results have taken the pressure off and created greater excitement for the Quakers.

"Last year was a struggle," the co-captain said. "Every match we lost, we lost like 4-3. This year, we're so much improved that we definitely have the potential to do very well in the Ivy League.

"It's a new era in Penn tennis."

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