Quakers look to keep up win streak

The Penn men's tennis team will put its 10-match winning streak on the line today when it hosts Yale (7-6, 0-0 Ivy). The team will then take on visiting Brown (13-8, 0-0) tomorrow.

But even though the streak is the longest that Penn (13-4, 1-0) has put together since 1974, it is the last thing on the Quakers' minds as they prepare to play back-to-back matches for the first time since the National Team Indoor Championships in February.

"We find out about [the streak] by reading the paper," head coach Mark Riley said. "I don't know about these things.

"It's a nice thing if something's happening that hasn't happened in a while because it shows we're going in the right direction. But it doesn't have an effect on any of us. We're just trying to do a good job in our league."

The team hasn't played since beating Princeton 6-1 last Friday, but Riley is not worried about the week-long layoff.

"After you play a tough match like we did last week against Princeton, a week [off] at this time of year, with school and academics, is perfect," Riley said. "We're getting ready to play every weekend for the rest of the month."

Both Yale and Brown will have Penn's full attention; the Quakers lost to both teams last year by identical 4-3 scores. Brown went on to win the Ivy League title.

A win today against the Elis may be especially meaningful for Riley, who has not led Penn to consecutive league victories since he took over as head coach in 2000.

"We're just trying to compete and do a good job against our peers," Riley said. "We need to concentrate on how we can execute our game plan.

"We need to take care of ourselves and be dictating the play and not make unforced errors."

Several players, including top singles players Jason Pinsky and Mikhail Bekker, noted the difficulty of adjusting to outdoor play last week after spending much of the season in the cozy confines of Levy Tennis Pavilion. Whether the team plays indoors or outdoors today depends on the weather conditions at matchtime; the team is scheduled to play indoors tomorrow against Brown.

"We did a good job against Army and Princeton outdoors," Riley said. "We had good wins both inside and outside. The conditions are the same for both sides."

With a victory today, the Quakers will match last year's win total, both overall and in the Ivy League. The team went 14-8 overall but finished with just a 2-5 Ivy record, good for sixth in the league.

Penn, the highest-ranked Ivy League team for much of the year, is currently ranked No. 52. Brown and Yale are next at Nos. 70 and 73, respectively.

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