The Penn tennis teams won the Ivy title and finished second last year, but that wasn't enough.
For the men, the fall slate includes one tournament that stands above the rest. The Quakers, who won the ECAC Invitational for the first time in school history last year, will look to defend their title at the end of September and earn another trip to the National Indoor Championships.
And with all of the top players returning for the 2006-07 campaign, head coach Mark Riley expects not only another ECAC championship, but also to have a more impressive showing at the Indoor Championships.
"I think we'll have even bigger and better opportunities this year," Riley said.
Last spring, Penn tied with Brown for the Ivy League title but lost the playoff for the bid to the National Championships.
Senior first-team All-Ivy performer Mikhail Bekker returns to provide leadership to a talented team that features more depth than last year's. Junior Jason Pinksy, also a first-team all-league performer, last season's Ivy League Rookie of the Year Jonathan Boym and sophomore standout Justin Fox highlight an experienced and accomplished group.
In addition to the strong core of returning competitors, the team welcomes a host of promising freshmen including Simon Bekker - the younger brother of Mikhail. Eric Riley, a transfer from the University of Virginia, will give the Quakers even more help with his experience competing at such a high level.
Without any significant injuries or off-season shake-ups, Coach Riley expects the team to improve as the season progresses.
"We're looking pretty good right now," he said. "We just want to go out and try to get better every match."
Bekker, Boym, Fox and Pinksy will start their season this weekend in Charlottesville, N.C., for the University of Virginia Invitational.
The women's team will treat the fall season as a tune-up before league competition, in which it placed second last spring, grabbing an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Head coach Michael Dowd said that juniors Yulia Rivelis and Julia Koulbitskaya, both of whom earned first-team league honors last season, have "stepped up on and off the court and have set a good example for the freshmen."
Charlotte Tansill, a transfer from North Carolina, and new freshmen Jackie Wong and Maria Anisimova will likely make an impact from the outset.
"We look sharp all the way down through the lineup," Dowd said. "I think we're as good, if not better, than we were last year."
The women open up play this weekend in Virginia at the William and Mary Invitational.
