M. Tennis hits the road to take on Cornell and Army

The Penn men's tennis team enters a New York state of mind this weekend. The Quakers (7-8) head out to the Big Apple to face Army and Ivy opponent Cornell in upstate New York today and tomorrow. Last spring the Quakers defeated the Black Knights by a score of 5-2. The team made an even stronger statement over Cornell with a 6-1 decision. Recently the Quakers have been unable to rise above the .500 mark. The team's latest match resulted in a 5-2 win over Navy Saturday. Friday's beginning conference battle versus hated rival Princeton, however, put Penn on the wrong side of a similar 5-2 result. While last year's numbers over the Black Knights give the Quakers the advantage, the team approaches Army with caution and a long memory. "We lost at Army two years ago." Penn junior Urs Baertschi said "That day everyone and everything went wrong. And they are better now than they were then." The junior, who usually plays at number two singles, will sit out the Army game today due to NCAA regulations regarding the number of matches an athlete may participate in. While the absence of one starter puts the team at a slight disadvantage against a lesser opponent, Penn will face the same problem Saturday. Junior Jordan Szekely will not be facing Ivy action against Cornell. Szekely, whose phenomenal season hadEhim posting wins all spring versus regional and national opposition, will not be competing against the Big Red due to an interviewing scheduling conflict. "Although missing a starter makes us weaker," Baertschi said, "we are playing two of the weakest teams on our schedule now." The staggering of the juniors' missed play serves to keep the doubles pairings as similar as possible, minimizing the possible negative effects of Szekely and Baertschi's absences. Fortunately, they come at an opportune time for the Quakers. "Army is like Navy," Penn sophomore Dominic Rioux said. "They fight until the end.EBut, talent-wise, we are the better team." While at least one junior starter will be playing in each match, the Quakers face yet another cloud on the horizon. Sophomore Mike Klatsky will not be in the lineup against either team. "Coach [Gene Miller] and I had aEdisagreement," Klatsky said. The player and coach clashed during Wednesday's drills at Levy Pavilion. The unrest stemmed from dissatisfaction regarding Klatsky's approach to practice and ended with his being asked to leave. Although his actual team status remains unclear at best, the sophomore had expressed several times a desire to "leave before Fling." Klatsky is also a member of the junior varsity basketball squad, but did not play this past fall due to varsity tennis. He plans to continue as a JV point guard. In light of the Quakers' lack of man power thisEweekend and the closeness of the team, Klatsky's final decision may not have been made as yet. As the availability of players drops, the team's concerns grow, as number one singles player senior Marc Fisicaro faces off against touted Army number one, sophomore Rae Cho. "[Cho] hits the ball hardEfrom the baseline," Baertschi said.E"And he has a big forehand. However, Marc will win this one." In addition to player woes, the Quakers must also adapt to the extremely windy conditions of Army's outside courts in upstate New York. While the Quakers face internal as well as external troubles with these matchups, they also offer the team opportunities to rise to the challenge. Freshman Eric Sobotka has been taking strong nationally ranked opposition to third sets before losing, and is currently on a four-game winning streak, beating St. Joseph's, Rutgers, Princeton and Navy singles' players. Also, team experience with top-10 and -20 ranked squads puts them at a distinct advantageEover the Black Knights and particularly the Big Red, which has scheduled weak teams in non-conference play. In the absence of team members, the Quakers hope to use that experience to bring home two wins and a 9-8 season record to boot.