M. Tennis ready to host quartet

During spring break, the Penn men's tennis team traveled to sunny La Jolla, Calif., to participate in the San Diego Invitational. After previously compiling a perfect record of 6-0 against several Eastern opponents, the Quakers hoped to test themselves against some of the best of the West. First up was San Diego State, the highest ranked team in the tournament. The Aztecs took an early lead but Penn fought back, emerging with a close 4-3 victory. Penn coach Gene Miller attributed the win in large part to the "scrappiness" of his team. "We've been doing a great job of fighting," Miller said. "These guys just keep coming back." Unfortunately, Penn's luck ran out against its second opponent, Illinois. After several close matches, the Fighting Illini pulled away, handing the Quakers their first loss of the season. Inclement weather forced the singles matches to be played before the doubles in Penn's next match against the University of Texas-El Paso. After losing the singles matches, Penn came back to win the doubles, but it was too late. The Miners squeaked by Penn, 4-3. "The loss to UTEP was especially disappointing," co-captain Marc Schecter said. "I don't know if the loss to Illinois affected us, but we came out flat. We didn't play to our ability." Miller also expressed concern about Penn's mental toughness, citing the "emotional highs and lows" the team experienced as a factor in the loss. "We can't afford to come out flat," he said. "We have to start out strong and increase the level of play." In its last match against Northern Arizona, Penn started slowly once again, but managed to reverse the trends of the previous matches, blasting back to beat the Lumberjacks 4-3 and improve its record to 8-2. Overall, the Quakers had their best California trip in four years. Ten players made the trip instead of the usual eight, so the matches were spread around and the risk of injury minimized. The competition against several highly-ranked teams will serve as good preparation for the tougher Eastern schedule that lies ahead. "It was a tough trip, no patsies," Miller said. "This is what you go to California for." "We learned we could play with teams ranked ahead of us," Schecter said of the trip. "We also learned that we can't take anything for granted." This weekend the Quakers enter the heart of their season, facing perennial powerhouse Penn State, as well as crosstown rival Temple and American.