M. Tennis confronts the past against St. Joe's

In a local rivalry, it's normal to see some familiar faces on the opposite side of the net.

But for Penn's Jonathan Boym and St. Joseph's Chris Chirico, the familiarity extends beyond the court.

Boym and Chirico, who will face off in the second singles match, were former teammates on the International Junior circuit and even shared a room during trips to places such as Brazil.

"We have a very long history," Boym said of Chirico, who was recently named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week. "We go back a long time so it will be interesting to play each other in college."

The Red and Blue will try to take the initial step toward improving on their previous year during their first match of the season against St. Joe's at Levy Pavilion. The Hawks opened their season last week by dominating the field at the West Point Open.

Another key match-up will feature Chirico's older brother, Jarrett, who will battle against Penn's number-one singles player, Jason Pinsky. The junior comes into the season ranked 85th in the nation among men's singles players.

The Quakers dominated last year's match against the Hawks, shutting them out 7-0. But with new additions like Chris Chirico and other freshmen such as Matt Prusack and Brent Kahl, a Penn victory this time around may not come so easily.

"With both Chirico brothers this year, we understand that they are a dangerous team and that they are going to come out firing," Boym said. "We're all aware of this and we know it's not going to be easy."

However, the players are not the only ones who share some history in today's match-up. Penn head coach Mark Riley has an added incentive for today's match - beating his former boss.

Riley served as an assistant to former Penn coach Gene Miller - now an assistant on the Hawks staff - before being named head coach in 2000.

"It's a friendly rivalry in the sense that I used to work for him, so there is a lot of respect," Riley said. "He always has his team ready to go."

While Miller experienced his share of success in his tenure with the Quakers, winning seven Big Five championships, Riley has already accomplished what his former mentor could not: winning an Ivy League title. Penn shared that honor with Brown last year, though it missed out on the postseason.

Boym and his teammates know how important it will be to start off the season on the right note, especially considering that the Quakers come into the match ranked 50th in the nation.

"It's our first match: we definitely want to send a message to the entire field," junior Justin Fox said.

"We have a target on our backs, so everybody is going to play a good match against us," Riley said. "We just want to come out and play hard and if we do that, we should take care of business."

A Quakers victory today would be the start of what could be an historically successful season, but, perhaps more importantly, it will give the Quakers bragging right over their familiar foes - at least for another year.

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