Jam-packed Saturday for M. Tennis

Some teams dedicate their seasons to championship pursuits. Others to admired players, coaches or fans.

Not the Penn men's tennis team, however.

"We are dedicating this season to Joelle and his clam chowder," Penn junior co-captain Ryan Harwood said.

Joelle -- the driver of Penn's team bus during the fall season -- has endeared himself to the Quakers with his fetish for clam chowder.

"Breakfast, lunch and dinner, even snack time, he wants New England clam chowder," Harwood said. "He wanted it eight times day, he wanted it in a toilet bowl."

The Quakers are hoping to use Joelle as their inspiration to improve upon last year's 9-11 record and seventh-place Ivy finish.

Having eight stellar recruits forming Penn's top lineup in recent years is also a huge bonus.

"In my opinion, this is the best team I've been a part of since I've been here," Harwood said.

With only four upperclassmen starters returning -- seniors Fanda Stejskal and co-captain Brian Barki and juniors Harwood and Andy Kolker -- Penn was in need of an influx of new talent.

Enter a talented octet of rookies led by David Lynn, Craig Rubin and Todd Lecher.

"The freshmen are going to be tremendous contributors," Harwood said. "They make it easy on me, because they are very good players and very diligent workers."

While Lynn made the greatest immediate impact for Penn -- the Clarkston, M.I. native advanced to the sweet 16 of the ITA Regionals -- the rest of the freshman class did not disappoint.

In one of three team matches, the Quakers played in the ECACs -- the only fall team event for the Red and Blue -- Penn's first-years' led the way as the Quakers pulled a mild upset defeating Columbia, last season's Ivy co-champions.

Lynn, Rubin and Lecher each picked up victories as Penn narrowly edged the Lions, 4-3.

"Beating Columbia was really big for the confidence of our freshmen," Harwood said. "We showed that we could do a lot of damage if we played well."

The Quakers will seek to begin their spring season inflicting damage on a pair of weaker opponents -- Temple and Swarthmore -- this weekend at Levy Pavilion.

Last year, a more inexperienced Penn team routed both the Owls and the Garnet Tide by convincing 7-0 margins.

With a more capable squad this spring, the Quakers expect to thrash the duo once again in Saturday's doubleheader.

"Swarthmore is not very good," Stejskal said. "We have them on the schedule to give all the guys in the lineup a chance to play.

"Temple is not super-strong either."

In addition to giving the Quakers the opportunity to clear their bench, this weekend's matches will also test Penn's mental and physical conditioning prior to match play.

"We will definitely find out what type of shape we are in," Harwood said. "Physically and mentally you are rusty in your first match. It will be important for us to keep our heads and play through the mistakes."

Aiding Penn to keep its composure will be second-year coach Mark Riley. Annointed the Quakers head man in Sept. 2000, after former coach Gordy Ernst resigned from the post, Riley heads into the spring season far more settled than he was at this time last year.

Riley's experience should help the young Quakers immeasurably as they gear up to face a talented slate of non-conference foes -- including ranked opponents No. 43 Michigan and No. 68 William & Mary -- before their first Ivy match on March 30 at Lott Courts.

Riley "knows how to deal with us even if we are not doing so well," Stejskal said. "That could be a big plus as compared to last year."

Add Riley's experience to a talented and fired-up Penn squad, and the Quakers seem prepared for a top showing in the evenly balanced Ivy League this year.

"The conference is wide open," Harwood said. "There is no dominant Ivy team right now. There is also no weak Ivy team. Every team has improved."

Driven by an insatiable appetite for victories akin to Joelle's passion for clam chowder, the Quakers are poised to make some noise in the Ancient Eight.

"It will be up to how much we want to win," Stejskal said. "If we want it, we can do pretty well."

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