M. TEnnis prepares for two Eastern foes

The Penn men's tennis team will take Army into the trenches for battle tomorrow. The Cadets will visit the Lott Courts tomorrow at 2 p.m., weather permitting, and try to hand the Quakers their first Eastern Intercollegiate Tennis Association loss of the season. Saturday, Cornell will try to walk away from the City of Brotherly Love with a victory as well. The Quakers hope to have something to say about that, though. Coming off consecutive wins last weekend, Penn has jumped out to a 1-0 start in the Ivy League and a 2-0 start in the EITA. Penn handled a tough Princeton team masterfully, scrapping out a 4-3 win. The following day, the squad from Navy fell prey to the Quakers, losing in a match that defined the early part of the EITA schedule, 5-2. "No one was really too high from the Princeton match because we expected to beat them," Penn co-captain Brad Goldberg said. Penn then went out and showed the Midshipmen that the Princeton match was only the beginning. "If we had been too up (about the Princeton win), it would have showed up in the Navy match," Quakers No. 2 singles player Marc Fisicaro said. This weekend provides the next test. "Cornell is very tough, and Army is just as good or better, so both of these matches will be like facing two more Navies," Penn coach Gene Miller said. The two upcoming opponents have pieced together impressive records this season. The Big Red will step onto the courts with a 10-3 mark overall, including a 1-0 record in the EITA. Cornell's lone Eastern win also came over Navy. Cornell was able to get by 4-3. The numbers don't tell the whole story, though. Army (13-1) has produced an impressive record via a below-par non-league schedule. The Cadets have put together their latest string of three victories with defeats over St. John's, Bucknell and Fairleigh Dickinson. Army's lone loss came at the hands of Harvard, a team that finished at the top of the EITA last year. Last year's Cadets match still looms over the Penn players, as they came away on the losing end. In what the players jokingly call "Grudge Match '97," Penn hopes to avenge a defeat that was highly unexpected. "We need to focus on this weekend, and what we can't do is look ahead to next weekend with the Harvard and Dartmouth matches," Quakers senior Joel Silman said. "The Cornell team is much different than last year," Miller said. "They thought they were outclassed, and they gave up at times. But they are fighting hard this year." After an 0-8 showing last year in the EITA, this year's Big Red squad is showing a new team approach. Penn will need to keep the "momentum flowing," in the words of Goldberg. On the heels of two huge victories and a four-game win streak, the Quakers will look to further establish themselves among the teams to beat in the EITA and Ivy League. "We can't have any let-ups," Miller said. "We need to continue being business-like and playing it by the numbers." The Quakers will hope to keep the pace on the Lott Courts and chalk up another "W" in the 1997 season.

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