Army is no joke to streaking M. Tennis

The Penn men's tennis team, well rested since its strenuous spring break trip to Hawaii, is ready to continue its winning ways when it meets Boston University and Army this weekend. Tomorrow, the Terriers of BU make their way to the Lott Courts to take on the Quakers. The Red and Blue (7-1) are riding a two-match win streak, including a 7-0 sweep of Georgetown last Saturday. While the Quakers are hoping to come away from the match with their eighth win of the season, they have never seen the Terriers play nor do they have much information on the team. "I don't know anything about BU except that they're in Boston, my girlfriend went there and they have a great hockey team," Penn coach Gordie Ernst said. Fortunately, that's not all the Quakers know about their opponents. "BU also has a good communications program," sophomore Eric Sobotka added. While the Quakers are willing to joke about the BU match, the Army match is no laughing matter. Last year the Red and Blue suffered a disappointing 4-3 loss at Army. This year they are ready for revenge. "Last year it was a battle. There was a lot of arguing and a lot of talking trash, as much as I guess you can have in tennis. It got ugly a little bit near the end," senior captain Jordan Szekely said. "It was a match we should have won and we simply let it slip away." This year's Quakers, however, are not the same team that lost to Army last year. Five freshmen have been added to the team and only Szekely and Sobotka remain from last year's regular lineup. Furthermore, under the guidance of first-year coach Ernst and senior captain Szekely, this year's team is much more unified. "This team has come together so much that it's a different team," Penn assistant coach Whitney Springfield said. "It's a unit this year and they are playing for each other and they are enjoying the game of tennis." That unity has been an important factor as the Quakers steadily move up the rankings. Penn, which started the season ranked No. 134, has already beaten two higher-ranked teams, including 103rd-ranked American University. Penn hopes to continue that trend by beating Army, a top-100 team. With the Quakers gearing up for the Ivy League season, which starts next Saturday at Princeton, the team remains confident and believes it is playing its best tennis of the season. "Right now we're 7-1. We had a goal at the start of the season to go into the Princeton match with a winning record, and we're doing it," Ernst said. "So now we just have to keep on doing it." But if last year's match is any indication, Saturday's meeting with the Cadets could turn into an all-out war. Ernst, however, remains confident. "If we play to our potential and play as well as we can play, we're not going to lose to them -- it's that simple," Ernst said. "If we go out and play to win, we will."