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Penn junior captain David Lynn and the men's tennis team will take on UMBC today at 3 p.m. at the Levy Tennis Pavilion.[Michael Lupoli/DP File Photo]

Entering his fourth season at the helm, Penn men's tennis coach Mark Riley leads a roster that, for the first time, was entirely recruited by him.

After finishing no higher than sixth in the Ivy League standings during his tenure, Riley looks to his players to make strides toward claiming an Ivy title that has eluded Penn for 33 years.

"I'm happy that I'm to the point in my career at Penn that I'm responsible for everybody that's on my roster and what kind of people they are," Riley said. "I guess I'm going to be happier when I see some really good results, especially some marked improvement when the Ivy season comes around."

The Quakers' roster does not include a single senior, which is a result of the coaching change when Riley took the reins of the program in 2000.

However, Riley's first recruiting class is the central part of this year's squad, as half of the 14 players on the roster are juniors. Furthermore, five of the seven players who Penn will play in tomorrow's contest with the University of Maryland-Baltimore County are juniors.

The Red and Blue only lost two seniors to graduation last year, but Ryan Harwood and Andy Kolker were constant fixtures in the Penn lineup and were team leaders as captains. Senior Alex Fritz -- who transferred to Penn in 2002 -- was also a presence in the Penn lineup last year, but left the team to concentrate on his studies.

This year's captains are juniors David Lynn and Craig Rubin, who commonly competed in both singles and doubles play last season.

"We never have to worry about them being prepared," Riley said. "When you're leaders prepare, they get everybody else better prepared."

Rubin is optimistic about his team's potential this year, with most of the impact players already having two full seasons under their belt.

"I think we have the experience factor now going," Rubin said. "I think we all know each other pretty well, we've got a good sense of camaraderie and I think this year we have a lot of chances to do something good."

Newcomer Mikhail Bekker, a native of Moscow, has entered the Penn lineup and made an impact. The 16-year-old freshman is already a veteran of international competition in Europe and had success this past fall for the Quakers. Bekker made it to the finals of the B flight of the Princeton Classic and reached the doubles final of the Penn Classic with Lynn.

"He's way ahead of his years," Rubin said. "We're putting him in a position to play at the top of our lineup and I don't think he'll disappoint at all."

In addition to Lynn, Rubin and Bekker, juniors Todd Lecher, Anthony Pu, Justin Lavner and sophomore Jimmy Fairbanks will make up the lineup as the Quakers host the Retrievers at 3 p.m. at the Levy Tennis Pavilion.

Assistant coach Joel Berman cited junior Justin Gordon, sophomores Ed Silver and Joseph Mirabile, and freshman Aubry Wand as players who could potentially step into the Quakers' lineup.

"We have a lot more depth than we've had in the past," Berman said. "The freshmen last year, now sophomores, are starting to step up and play good tennis."

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