Last year, Mikhail Bekker was the first Penn men's tennis player ever to be named Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
But in his sophomore season, awards are secondary in his mind -- right now he must worry about whether he will be healthy enough to play this season.
At the Penn Classic last October, Bekker suffered a stress fracture in his left foot. He spent a month and a half in a cast and even more time in rehab.
Bekker's honor last season was one bright spot in a 2003-04 campaign that was not exactly a memorable one.
Though Penn finished with a14-10 record, the season was severely tainted by the 1-6 Ivy record it included. The Quakers ended the season tied with Dartmouth for last place in the league standings.
While no member of the team earned first- or second-team All-Ivy status last season, things are nonetheless looking up for the tennis team.
The Red and Blue graduated no letter-winning seniors and Bekker believes that the team has good freshmen ready to contribute.
While the Quakers' 17-man roster sports six seniors and three juniors, it is the youthof this team, led by Bekker,that is expected to control its destiny.
There will be "guys who played last year who won't play every day" this year, coach Mark Riley said.
Riley, who is now in his fifth year at Penn, has compiled a 44-40 career record. But this will be Riley's first year in which he has recruited all four classes and he believes that his younger players will eat up a bulk of the match time.
Riley put a lot of emphasis on the play of his young players, especially the three freshmen: Joseph Lok, Andrew Magnes and Brandon O'Gara.
Tas Tobias, a sophomore transfer from Texas, is alsoexpected to have an immediate impact. The native of Hungary played No. 1 singles for the Red and Blue during the shortfall season.
Riley noted that while last year's disappointing finish is "where we've been the last couple of years," things are looking up.
Riley expects to do better this year and there is good reason for his optimism. In October, this young crew of players won two out of three matches against other Ivies in the ECAC Championship.
The squad also experienced great success at the Penn Classic in the last weekend in October. Bekker made the singles final in the 'A' flight, and an all-Penn doubles final saw the tandem of Tobias and Lok beat out teammates Bekker and senior David Lynn, 8-6.
Riley is looking forward to the start of what he hopes will be a rewarding year. He has high expectations for his players and his team, as he fully believes that the Quakers can compete and find themselves in the top part of the league this year.
Bekker echoes this enthusiasm. One of his major goals is to beat Harvard -- last year's undefeated Ivy champions -- something which he sees as doable with this lineup.
Still, Riley is trying to take things one step at a time by preparing for non-conference play first, which starts today against UMBC, a team the Quakers crushed 6-1 last year.
Bekker, despite his injury, is not taking things slowly. He believes that he is completely healed and that the injury will not hamper his play. However, until he has proven his health, he will only play singles.
The rest of the non-conference schedule includes Saint John's and Swarthmore this weekend, as well as Richmond, Saint Bonaventure, Maryland, Rutgers, Army, New Mexico, Utah, Boise State, Loyola Marymount, UC-Irvine, Navy and Saint Joseph's.
After spring break, the Ivy League schedule will commence with an away match at Princeton on April 1.
