Nothing but ills in Illinois for M. Tennis over weekend

Ranked No. 66, Penn played against much better teams at the Fighting Illini Classic. Being among the elite may not always be an easy experience, but difficulties can translate into benefits. The Penn men's tennis team went to Champaign, Ill., last weekend knowing that the competition would consist of the nation's best, as the Quakers took part in the Fighting Illini Classic. The tournament matched the Red and Blue against three teams with considerably higher rankings than the Quakers' position at No. 66. The field was led by powerhouse Florida, Southern Methodist and the host, Illinois. The SMU team was the closest to Penn at No. 50. The other two teams were considerably higher, with the Illini at No. 30 and the Gators at No. 15. This matching is easily the most difficult for the squad this season. "This was something we had to do if the program wants to continue becoming better," Quakers sophomore Udi Kish said. This sentiment was one shared by others on the team, recognizing that the team needed to see the teams at the next level to make playing with them an option. Penn junior Marc Fisicaro felt the opportunity proved that Penn, though not victorious, was not far from reaching this upper echelon of tennis competition. The Penn squad is one of relatively "little difference" in talent according to Fisicaro, but their opponents "won't make the first error." "The little differences are huge. I had chances in my matches against them, and I just didn't get them again," Fisicaro said. The first obstacle that Penn faced was the drastic change in the level of the facilities, which dictated the play. The tennis pavilion at Illinois is a brand new facility, making play faster and harder. "Their play was very suited to the facilities; the courts were much faster than Levy, and it took a little while to get used to the timing," Kish said. This geared the matches toward a serve and volley strategy, proving difficult for a Quakers team that plays mainly from the baseline. The match did allow many to enter the arena. The "flight" format enabled the eight singles seeds and three doubles teams to play all three teams. This gave Penn coach Gene Miller the ability to flip-flop the bottom of the lineup and test different people in different singles spots. The top several seeds were fairly consistent, with Kish at No. 1 and Fisicaro at No. 2. Joel Silman played the two days of the contest at third singles after sitting out the first day with a broken toe. The pain seemingly had little effect on Silman, as he proved to be one of the few Quakers to pull off a victory. Penn senior co-captain Brad Goldberg filled the third slot in the first day while playing No. 4 the other two days. The No. 5 position was played by Jordan Szekely. Szekely was one of the few Quakers to win any flight. The rest of the lineup included senior J.J Cramer, Urs Baertschi, Dominic Rioux and David Schwartzman. Penn looks to move beyond this tomorrow as they take on Temple at the Levy Pavilion at 3 p.m. The Quakers will revert back to the standard match (six singles and three doubles) with the lineup resembling the top six singles of the weekend. The one major difference that will occur is Cramer moving into the starting No. 5 spot for the singles play. Cramer will also team up with Goldberg in doubles. They will be joined by a team of Kish and Fisicaro, leaving the third doubles team up for grabs. Going through the climb may have its troubles, but the Quakers team will be better prepared in the future. The Quakers look ahead knowing they hung with the best.

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