M. Tennis to gain experience

The journey continues. In its continuing quest for match experience and with an eye on the upcoming ECACs, the Penn men's tennis team hits the road again this weekend, traveling to Princeton for the Princeton Invitational. The Quakers will be competing today, tomorrow and Sunday in the individual tournament along with Columbia, Notre Dame and the host Tigers. The format for the tournament is a 32-man, single-elimination draw, with play in both singles and doubles competition. "This is just a chance to look at everybody," Penn coach Gene Miller said. "I'm taking a lot of the guys that did not play last weekend with some that played already." Making the trip for the Quakers will be seniors David Nathan and Peter Asselin, junior Marc Schecter, sophomores David Marek and Andreas Olofsson, and freshmen Jon Aspatore, Brad Goldberg and Ehren Stenzler. The team appears confident. "I think we'll do pretty well," Olofsson said. "Everybody is playing pretty well right now." The timing and location of the tournament play a big role in the Quakers' decision to participate, with the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships coming up soon. "This tournament is a week prior to the ECACs, which is really what we're focusing on, so it allows us to play right before and get some match competition," Miller said. "Also, it's done at Princeton, which are the same courts that the ECACs are going to be held at, so it really helps us to be able to do that." The field at the Princeton Invitational has been strengthened this year due to the addition of the Fighting Irish, a team that has ranked very high nationally in the past few years. Miller hopes that the experience of playing the Irish will let the Quakers see how they match up with the national powers. "This tournament is [usually with teams only from] this region, but with Notre Dame, there are now two different barometers. Regional competition, as well as the big boys," Miller said. "It'll be interesting to see how we stack up, where our holes are, and what work we've got to do."

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