M. Tennis eyeing pair of victories

The Penn men's tennis team has the perfect pair of pick-me-ups scheduled for this Saturday after last weekend's 7-0 loss at Michigan.

Two matches -- a doubleheader, no less -- against two lower-tier tennis programs, Richmond and St. Joseph's.

The Quakers can hardly wait.

"We were pretty disappointed after the Michigan loss," Penn freshman Craig Rubin said. "Now we're really hungry. We want to win it this weekend."

Penn will get its first crack at returning to the winner's circle in Saturday's first match against Richmond at noon.

Last season, the Red and Blue whipped the Spiders, 6-1, and look to post a similar result against a somewhat less-skilled Richmond squad.

This season, the Spiders(3-4) have already dropped matches to Navy and Cornell -- two teams that compared evenly with Penn talent-wise last year.

"It means that we better beat [Richmond]," Penn co-captain Brian Barki said.

And then comes the real test of the weekend -- St. Joseph's -- at 4 p.m.

While the Quakers have not played the Hawks in the past few years, nonetheless, on paper, it looks like the match should be a blowout.

Case and points, St. Joe's (2-1) wins this season have come over Mount St. Mary's and and St. Peter's.

Their sole loss this season was to Division III Swarthmore, 3-2.

While Penn annihilated the same Garnet Tide squad, 7-0, earlier this season, the Quakers are careful not to take Saturday's second opponent too lightly.

"We're not going to be taking it easy," Barki said. "We are going to treat them like any other opponent.

"After last week's loss we need to get something started."

With Penn focused and set to get rolling with wins this weekend, the sole stumbling block that the Quakers may face is fatigue.

Playing two matches in one day is not easy for any team, especially in the early season when the squad has not reached its fitness peak.

The Red and Blue will try to mitigate this disadvantage by playing staggered lineups, which will also give some of the non-starters a chance to compete.

"We are probably going to play two different lineups so that not everybody is completely worn out," Barki said.

With what looks like two easy wins staring them straight in the face, the Quakers understand the task at hand and know what they need to do in order to win.

Just as importantly, Penn understands what it can't afford to do.

"You can't play like you are afraid to lose," Barki said. "You've got to go out there and give it everything you got."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.