M. Tennis looks to renew itself

According to Catholic dogma, Sunday is the day of rest. For two Catholic universities, St. Bonaventure and Saint Joseph's, Sunday will prove to be anything but as they both face off with Penn in men's tennis play. The Quakers (3-2) seek to end a two match skid, in which they have failed to tally a single team point. The two losses came against ranked foes, No. 51 Virginia and No. 75 Old Dominion. "I think it's a good weekend to get back on track, in terms of taking two difficult losses this past couple of weekends against teams we thought we could have beaten if we came together," senior co-captain Ryan Harwood said. The Bonnies (6-4) square off with Penn at noon, while the Hawks (3-2) come to the Levy Tennis Pavilion at 5:00 p.m. With two matches in one day, the coaching staff anticipates being able to mix up the lineup, giving some players the opportunity to gain valuable match experience. "I think it's a good opportunity," Penn assistant coach Joel Berman said. "We're going to get to see more than our top six get out there because we have two matches. So we're going to be able to play eight or nine guys in singles, probably, and get to see them put it on the line and see what they can do." The Quakers view the chance to get more players involved as an opportunity to add to the team's depth. "We are going to have a chance to get a few more people that haven't had a lot of experience in matches so far this year," freshman Jimmy Fairbanks said. "And hopefully it will payoff later in year, we'll have a deeper lineup." Philadelphia will be St. Bonaventure's second stop in a Pennsylvania weekend road trip that includes a matchup with No. 72 Penn State in State College on Saturday. Any roadtrip has proven to be a treacherous one for the Bonnies. Of their six total victories, only one was amassed while playing away from their home courts in St. Bonaventure, N.Y. St. Joe's has been slightly more successful away from home, posting a 2-1 record when not playing on Hawk Hill. The Hawks will head to Princeton on Saturday to face off with the No. 75 Tigers before the Sunday afternoon showdown with the Quakers. Penn shares a common foe with St. Joe's in Division III power Swarthmore. The Quakers topped the Garnet Tide, 6-1, while the Hawks were victorious by a 5-2 margin. The Red and Blue are looking to capitalize this weekend on their opportunity to get more players experience, but getting wins against a pair of very beatable teams remains the overarching concern. "It's going to be a good chance for some younger guys to get some playing time and to show what they've got, and I think they'll definitely have the opportunity," Penn senior co-captain Andy Kolker said. "These are two teams that we should come out with wins and hopefully we can do that."

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