If last weekend was a hurdle in their season, this weekend the Quakers tennis team will have a mountain to climb.
After tough losses to Central Florida and Maryland, Penn will face an even tougher challenge in the coming days when it travels to North Carolina to face two top-40 teams in Duke (2-2) and North Carolina State (5-0).
First up will be a matchup with No. 12 Duke tonight in Durham, followed by No. 38 N.C. State on Sunday in Raleigh. Duke comes into the bout having lost its last two matches, but both to top-10 teams on the road.
The ticked-off Blue Devils will be looking to bounce back from these defeats, which could be a scary prospect for the Quakers (1-2). The team, however, does not seem to be intimated by Duke's ranking.
"Last year we beat a top-10 team, so we think we're capable of beating a top-10 team again," coach Mark Riley said, referring to the Quakers' victory over South Carolina last season.
Penn will need good performances out of its top two singles players, Jason Pinsky (ranked no. 85) and Jonathan Boym,in order to pull off the upset. Duke features two players in the top-80 singles rankings, No. 54 Kiril Dimitrov and No. 80 Peter Rodrigues.
"Playing at Duke is a tough task for anybody, but we think these are the kinds of things we have to do to prepare for the Ivy season," Riley said.
N.C. State comes into its match undefeated, which may be misleading because the Wolfpack have not faced any ranked teams. Nevertheless, the weekend's gauntlet of matches will be by far the most challenging test of the season so far for the Quakers.
Riley feels his team is up to the task.
"We've played two top-level teams and we've had a good week of practice, so we're prepared," he said.
Beyond their preparation for the matches, the Quakers will simply have to raise their quality of play from last weekend to come home Sunday with victories.
"Our expectations are to play at a higher level than we did last weekend and if we do that we'll give ourselves a chance to win. We need to find that level of play we had at ECACs last fall," Riley said, referring to Penn's first-place finish at the ECAC Championships in October.
The Quakers may be able to improve by simply showing up with a full, healthy squad. A key to last weekend's losses was the absence of senior captain Mikhail Bekker, who has been sitting with an elbow problem.
Riley said Bekker has had a good week of practice but was not sure whether he would be able to play. The return of the two-time First Team All-Ivy singles player would provide the Quakers with a much-needed boost for their uphill battles on Tobacco Road.
