The Penn men's tennis team wet its competitive palette last week at the Cornell Invitational, the team's first tournament of the year.
This weekend, the Quakers get to dive into a full course meal at the ECAC Men's Invitational Tennis Championships at Harvard.
"I think [the ECAC Championship] is a lot bigger and more important [than the Cornell Invitational]," Penn freshman Anthony Pu said.
Indeed, after a fair showing at Cornell in which Penn won two consolation brackets and placed two competitors in the finals of their respective flights, the Quakers hope they can capitalize on the much-needed experience they gained.
"From the performance at Cornell, we're very optimistic," Penn freshman Craig Rubin said. "We had a couple big wins last week -- based on those individual efforts, we should fare pretty well."
The team sent four freshman to the Cornell Invitational, as well.
"At this point there are a lot of new faces," Penn coach Mark Riley said. "The freshmen are trying to earn respect from the other teams and the Ivies.
"They have a no-quit attitude and they're willing to put it all on the line."
Freshmen David Lynn, Todd Lecher, Rubin and Pu will be in competition this weekend, along with seniors Fanda Stejskal and Brian Barki and juniors Andrew Kolker and Ryan Harwood.
If the Quakers wish to prove themselves, this is the time to do it. In addition to all of the Ivy League schools, the tournament features Penn State, Marist, Rutgers, Colgate, Virginia Tech, Army, Navy and Georgetown.
"[To win] we have to stay within ourselves and believe we can compete with anybody," Rubin said. "We have to go out there unintimidated and not give anyone too much respect."
In order to win the title, the Red and Blue will have to knock off rival Princeton, the reigning champions. Host Harvard captured the title two years prior to that.
A win will mean an automatic bid to the USTA/ITA Men's National Team Indoor Championships hosted by the University of Kentucky. The event will be held at the Louisville Tennis Club, Feb. 7-10.
For now, however, the focus is on this weekend.
"This is a really good opportunity to see where we are," Riley said. "It's a chance to see where we're strong and to see where we need to improve."
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