Home rout gives team some added confidence

Junior Mikhail Bekker calls this year's men's tennis team the best he's seen since he arrived at Penn three years ago.

"The results speak for themselves," the co-captain said.

The results Bekker was talking about include yesterday's convincing 6-1 victory over Rutgers at Levy Tennis Pavillion.

Also included is a strong showing at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships last weekend, where the Quakers beat No. 10 South Carolina.

After playing in a tournament that brought together 16 of the top teams in the nation, the Quakers were in danger of a letdown. But the team appeared focused and rested after taking a red-eye flight in from Washington Monday morning.

"We had enough time to be ready," head coach Mark Riley said. "We played a team we felt we should beat and went out there and beat them."

Sophomore Brandon O'Gara said the key in not having a letdown was in the preparation.

"Whether it be Florida or Rutgers, we try not to prepare any differently," said O'Gara, who won his No. 4 singles match 7-5, 7-6 and teamed up with junior Tas Tobias to win his No. 3 doubles set 8-4. "We just have to come out and take care of business."

Sophomore Jason Pinsky, playing in the No. 1 singles and doubles slots, agreed.

"It's tougher to get up for this kind of match, but we just have to make sure we're practicing 100 percent," said Pinsky, who breezed through his singles match 6-0, 6-1 and partnered with sophomore Joseph Lok to win his doubles set 8-4.

Lok was the only Penn player to lose on the afternoon, falling to Arjun Vaidya in a tie-breaker.

The outcome was never really in doubt against Rutgers after Penn started the afternoon by sweeping the doubles sets.

Riley, who said earlier in the year that the team was still looking for its personality, stated after the match that the Quakers are starting to find it.

"I think we showed a lot of tenacity when we took the doubles point against Florida," Riley said, referring to the Quakers winning two out of three doubles matches against the then-No. 1 team in the nation. "We played Florida close and went up against the defending indoor champions in Baylor, and the team showed a lot of toughness."

Even though the Quakers wound up losing those matches to Florida and Baylor, the team is confident as the season reaches its halfway point next week against Saint John's.

"If we work hard, I think we can beat anyone," Pinsky said. "We showed that last week. We just have to make more sacrifices, be more serious, and get stronger as a group, mentally and physically."

Bekker, who won his No. 2 singles match 6-1, 6-3 and partnered with junior John Stetson to win his No. 2 doubles set 8-2, is even going as far as to set goals for the team for the rest of the year.

"We're not going to lose a match for the rest of the season," Bekker said.

He believes that Penn is the best team in the Ivy League and is using the fact that it is currently ranked behind Brown in the Fila ITA Collegiate Tennis rankings as motivation. Brown is ranked 44, with Penn at 47.

"Brown is ranked higher based on previous results," Bekker said. "We're definitely the best team."

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