M. Tennis looks to get back on track

The Penn men's tennis team is now the not-so-proud owner of a two-game losing streak, courtesy of Navy and Princeton. The Red and Blue had their four-game winning streak snapped last Friday when Navy swept a surprised Penn squad, 7-0. The Quakers' bad luck continued when the Tigers handed them a 6-1 defeat the following day in Penn's Ivy League season opener. The Quakers (9-4, 0-1 Ivy League) must now regroup and get ready for an important weekend of competition, as they face Brown today at 2 p.m. and travel to Yale tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. The match against the Bears should prove to be interesting. The teams are pretty evenly matched and will most likely battle for the fourth spot in the Ivies behind perennial powers Princeton, Harvard and Yale. The Quakers are expecting the Bears to come out fired up, ready to avenge last season's 6-1 loss to Penn. The Red and Blue, though, have their own losses to atone for. The Quakers are still smarting from their two defeats last weekend and intend to use them as motivation in their upcoming matches. "We were winning a lot before, and this loss is a good wake-up call for us," senior captain Jordan Szekely said. "Everybody realizes now that every match we're going to be in is going to be tough." Besides the desire to prove themselves after two disappointing losses, the Quakers have an additional incentive to win -- Penn coach Gordie Ernst is a former Bear. Ernst will be returning to his hometown and alma mater amidst much fanfare, including a slew of local newspaper articles written about him. "Rhode Island is a small state and I grew up there, so there is a lot of history for me there," Ernst said. "There may be banners up and they may be throwing eggs and stuff at me." If Ernst and the rest of the team can avoid being pelted with food, they may leave Providence with both their first Ivy win of the season and the confidence they need heading into their match against Yale, one of the Ivy League's top teams. "It's all confidence -- sports is all about confidence," Ernst said. "If we get a win against Brown, we'll be in a confident position going into Yale." A win against the Elis will not be easy, regardless of the Quakers' confidence. Last year, Yale convincingly defeated Penn, 6-1, and this year's Elis team may be even stronger. Many of last season's starters are returning and some top recruits have been added to the mix. However, the Quakers are hoping that events outside of their control will help them in their quest to defeat the Elis. "Yale is a very talented team, just like Princeton was," Ernst said. "Fortunately they play Princeton the day before they play us so we may be able to catch them while they're tired." If all goes well for Penn this weekend and the losing streak is snapped, the Quakers will have earned their 10th win this year -- beating last year's record win total of nine. Furthermore, a victory this weekend would show the heart of this team, as well as its ability to bounce back from defeat. "We have to outcompete teams. The guys learned this weekend that in the Ivy League we have to earn every point and every match," Szekely said. "Once you get on the court, it's the guys who really believe they deserve the win and are willing to work for it during the match who are going to win." And win -- twice, in fact -- is exactly what the Quakers are planning to do this weekend.