Aaronson leads M. Tennis to Princeton

This weekend, three members of the Penn men's tennis team will travel to New Jersey to face the best of the East at the Princeton Invitational. The three-day tournament, held in Princeton's Jadwin Gym today through Sunday, will feature the top singles and doubles players in the region. Representing the Quakers in singles will be senior co-captain Neil Aaronson and sophomore J.J. Cramer. Cramer will also team up with fellow sophomore Brad Goldberg in doubles. After a successful fall and a crushing defeat of Pittsburgh and Maryland to open the spring season last weekend, the Quakers feel they have a good shot at bringing home a title or two. "Both teams have a chance to win it," men's tennis coach Gene Miller said. Goldberg indicated their main competition for the title will be the teams from Ivy rivals Harvard and Princeton, particularly the Tigers' doubles team of Gog Boonswang and Dave Murphy. Cramer and Goldberg lost a close match to Boonswang and Murphy 9-7 last fall and hope to avenge the loss this weekend. "We almost beat them in the fall," said Goldberg, citing Boonswang's quickness along the net and Murphy's strong volleying as factors in the loss. A good showing at the Princeton Individual will enhance the players' chances of qualifying individually for the NCAA tournament. The top four singles players and and the top two doubles teams in the region receive berths to the event later in the spring. "If we win this, we'll have a shot," said Goldberg. But the Quakers are primarily concerned with the overall success of the team, rather than the individual players. Traditionally, the focus of the spring is on the team, while the focus of the fall is on the individual. This fact is reflected in the schedule, since Penn will play twenty dual matches in the next three months, as opposed to just three in the fall. Tournaments like the Princeton Invitational serve as preparation for the grueling season that lies ahead. "It will give people some matches and an opportunity to get some competition," Goldberg said. Without the pressure of having the outcome of the match directly affect the success of the team, the players can concentrate on improving their game. "Because it's not a big tournament, it will be good practice going into the heat of the season," senior co-captain Marc Schecter said.