By rob gross
Staff Writer
rjgross@sas.upenn.edu
Another week, another full slate of top-ranked teams.
That can effectively sum up the Penn men's tennis team's season so far, as it has already faced seven top-100 teams, losing to all of them. And by the time students are returning from their weeks of relaxation on the beach, the team will have faced five more.
The Quakers will spend their spring break on a road trip where they will play five matches in six days. Their first destination is Idaho, where they will face Boise State, Utah and Oregon They will also travel to Tulsa, Okla. to face the No. 23 Golden Hurricanes as well as No. 9 Oklahoma State.
The trip will commence tomorrow with a match against No. 19 Boise State, who dealt the Quakers (2-7) a 4-1 loss at National Indoors just two weeks ago. Despite the lopsided final result, almost every matchup was tightly contested.
"I think it has to give us confidence considering what we did in that match," second doubles player Brandon O'Gara said. "I think we have the ability to beat them, it is just a question of execution."
Coach Mark Riley was also encouraged by his team's performance against the Broncos.
"When we played them it was pretty close; we had a couple set points and couldn't convert," Riley said. "We just have to do a better job as we get oppouruntities."
One good sign for the Red and Blue is that they experienced success at the top two singles spots. Jonathan Boym defeated Clancy Shields at No. 2 and Jason Pinsky was tied 1-1 with No. 9 ranked singles player Luke Shields, before the match was called because Boise had already clinched the victory.
Pinsky will have to continue that type of play if he hopes to come home with any victories. He will likely face four top-100 players, including the No. 2 player in the nation, Tulsa's Arnau Brugues. Pinksy came into the season ranked 85th but has since fallen out of the rankings.
Despite his team's 0-7 record against top-100 teams, Riley's confidence remains.
"We played some excellent programs and we just happened to lose," Riley said. "I think we turned the corner a little bit at Indoors and we're playing a little better."
Riley hopes the trip will be as successful as a similar trip his team took this time two years ago, when it traveled to Boise and California. The Quakers won three of five matches out West and gained momentum heading into the Ivy League season.
"We had some good wins during that trip and that gave our program confidence that we were no longer at the bottom of the Ivies," Riley said. "I'm hoping this will be a good cure for us all."
Only two current Quakers, junior Joseph Lok and O'Gara, participated in the trip.
"Last time, we went outside for our first match there and we were able to win a few matches," O'Gara said. "Hopefully we can start to turn it around this weekend."
