Penn men's tennis coach Mark Riley has a problem. But unlike in years past, this is a problem he is happy to have.
"The toughest thing for me is to fill out a lineup card," Riley said, citing the massive amount of talent on this year's Penn squad. From top to bottom, the Quakers are "poised to make a little noise" in the Ivy League, he said.
The 2004 squad will be building on last year's team, which did not graduate a single starter. Led by senior captain and potential No. 1 singles player David Lynn, last year's group of starters have been competing with a slew of new talent.
One newcomer who figures to factor into the top three singles players during the season is Tas Tobias, a freshman transfer from the University of Texas who was born in Hungary.
While in Hungary, Tobias was the country's No. 1 junior player. Tobias and Lynn will be joined in the top three by 17-year-old sophomore Mikhail Bekker.
Bekker filled the No. 2 singles position for most of last season, and performed very well. Like Tobias, Bekker is also an international product, hailing from Moscow.
His hard-working style has translated well in his time at Penn, both on and off the court. Not only was Bekker named Ivy League Rookie of the Year last season, he is also "a great student," according to his coach.
Bekker's bread and butter is counterpunching. A hard worker on the court, Bekker races around the court and uses his opponent's pace to his own advantage. This season, however, Riley has been helping to add more "punch" to Bekker's attack by building his net game.
Lin, Tobias and Bekker will be joined by a "crowded" field of talent. Riley admits the difficulty in finalizing his list of starters, and will be using the upcoming tournaments to see his players in a more competitive atmosphere.
At a tournament in Princeton, N.J., last weekend, freshman Brandon O'Gara took the opportunity to impress his coach. O'Gara made the finals in the B Flight Division, and, along with senior Justin Lavner, took the doubles finals as well.
Despite the positive showing, Riley assured the freshmen that they will have to battle extremely hard to see any playing time this season, as the team returns so many starters.
This weekend Lin, Tobias, Bekker and freshman Joe Lok will be traveling to Providence, R.I., for another tune-up tournament hosted by Brown University.
Harvard, which finished undefeated in the Ivy League last season, remains the favorite this year. However, Penn seems poised to make a run into the top three teams in the Ancient Eight.
College tennis is a team game, and Riley says he "would like to think that we are good at every spot," even if he hasn't yet solved the problem of filling those spots.
