M. Tennis still not sure about ranking after visit to Princeton

One month into the fall season, the Penn men's tennis team thought it would finally discover how it compare to other teams in the Eastern region. They did -- sort of. Due to the cancellation of the backdraw at this past weekend's 16-team ECAC Invitational, however, the Quakers never found out exactly where they stand. After beating Army 5-2, and succumbing to Ivy-favorite Columbia 6-1, the Quakers were scheduled to meet Cornell. Due to inclement weather, though, the tournament was cut short for the Red and Blue and the rest of the teams in the consolation round. So, the question remains unanswered: are the Quakers the fifth-best in the East, or are they merely No. 9? The team may not have absolute numbers to go by, but the weekend did reveal that the Quakers will need to work hard to climb in the rankings. "What these matches showed us is that we're definitely among the better teams in the region," Daily Pennsylvanian photographer and tennis player Rob Pringle said. "But we're still not quite ready to tackle the best teams like Columbia or Harvard." Though the team may need to improve in order to beat the best, some individual members have already proven their winning ability. Sophomore transfer Frantisek Stejskal has emerged as a stand-out for Penn, recording the only Quakers win in a lopsided Lions team victory. Stejskal, playing his first tournament as No. 1 -- replacing co-captain Eric Sobotka, who moved down a slot -- defeated Columbia's Steve Millerman in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. "Fanda took Millerman to finishing school the way he played him," Penn coach Gordie Ernst said. "He played him like an artist and he played a great thinking match." With his win against Millerman, coupled with his 6-2, 6-2 victory against Marshall Clay of Army, Stejskal now has a six-game winning streak. Although Stejskal may have come away with the only 'W' against the Lions, the team as a whole fared much better against the Cadets. Stejskal's singles win -- together with Eric Sobotka's 7-6(3), 6-3 win against Arnoldo Albornoz and Ryan Harwood's 6-2, 6-4 defeat of Travis Burns -- gave the Quakers a sweep at the top of the ladder. Sophomore Kevin Strouse then chipped in another win at No. 6 against Sonny Avichal to widen the margin of victory. "Strouse turned in a really gutsy performance after being down 4-1 in the first set," Ernst said. "That's the kind of play that I like to see." While there were some heartening performances in singles play, the results of the doubles matches were not what the team expected. At No. 1 doubles, senior co-captain Brett Meringoff teamed up with Harwood, a duo that has been successful in the past. This weekend, though, the two suffered two straight defeats, losing 8-1 to Army and 8-3 to Columbia. "We were disappointed because we didn't play as well as we did in the past or as well as we think we're capable of playing," Meringoff said. "But we're not discouraged because we're going to improve with each match we play." While the No. 1 doubles team did not meet expectations, both the No. 2 team of Stejskal and Sobotka and the No. 3 team of Brian Barki and Pringle came away with victories against Army to secure the all-important doubles point. The team, however, was not pleased with its overall doubles play. "We beat Army and they were all right," Pringle said. "But they definitely did not play at the same level that the really good teams play doubles at." And, against a really good team -- namely Columbia -- Penn lost all three doubles matches. "Doubles definitely needs work," Pringle said. "In the off-season we're going to have to make a conscious effort to work on doubles or we're going to concede that point in every match we play. "And it's a lot harder to win four out of six singles matches than three out of six." The tournament may have taught the Quakers an important lesson about the current stage of their development. But, whether they occupy the No. 5 slot or the No. 9, they refuse to become complacent. The team knows where it wants to be by the end of the year, and that is at No. 1. "Right now we're not ready to beat the very top teams," Ernst said. "So, over the new few months we're going to dedicate ourselves. "I know we can beat the good teams, but now we have to go work on beating the great teams."