Search Results
Below are your search results. You can also try a Basic Search.
(03/06/97 10:00am)
Penn or Princeton? Just when you thought the rivalry was coming to an end, it's time to get geared up again for the race to the top between the Tigers and Quakers. This year the Gehrig Division of the Ivy League may once again come down to the final four games at Bower Field when Penn will host the Tigers. The other two teams in the division, Cornell and Columbia, hope to challenge. The building of the programs may prove to be a couple of years off. "The league is very close as far as the competition is concerned? talk about a league having parody, there is never an easy day or week in this division," Columbia coach Paul Frenandes said. COLUMBIA The Lions look to improve on last year's 13-29 overall record. Their 7-13 record claimed last place in the Gehrig Division. They will need to do something drastic to compete for the top. The squad should be led by the return of catcher Travis Hunter, shortstop Jason Wynn, and righty pitchers Matt Rothfleisch and Eric Rothfield. The Lions hope pitching will be a strength. The offense is yet to be proven and unless Gehrig, the "Columbia Clipper" himself, returns to dawn that beautiful powder blue uniform, the pitching may have to carry them. CORNELL The Big Red have what Penn coach Bob Seddon calls a team that "just gets better every year." Cornell needs to find some pitching depth however, as their returning No. 1 starter, sophomore right-hander Brian Willimason, managed only a 4-4 record and 4.99 ERA. The offense hopes to rise above last year's third place finish as the Big Red return two .300 hitters in their co-captains. Catcher Eric Kirby provided good numbers in 1995 (.346, 35 RBI) but missed last season because of illness. The other captain, junior shortstop Bill Walkenbach provides the experience of a two-time All-Ivy infielder and a .310 batting average. PRINCETON Princeton looks to defend their Gehrig title and once again take the Ancient Eight. "We need to find some offensive thrust, since five of the seniors we lost last year were offensive leaders. But, defensively we should be better," Tigers coach Tom O'Connell said. The Tigers' pitching staff will be led by senior returnee Brian Volpp (5-2, 4.14 ERA) who led the hurlers with his three complete games and two shutouts. The Tigers would like to see junior Ben Smith continue to step in as No. 2, and Joseph Machando and Tim Killgoar to fill out the rest of the rotation. The Princeton offense will be sparked by the leadership of senior first baseman Michael Keck (.328, 36 RBI) and second baseman Gino Barbera (.407, 12 runs). The defensive stability will be aided by the return of junior twin combination Asher and Justin Griffin. The two turned the pivot together for most of the fall season. These two bring speed to the lineup and may force O'Connell to find positions for them if Barbera remains consistent. PENN The Gehrig Division is rounded out by the Quakers. The Penn team looks to rebound from a tough end of the 1996 season that saw the title slip out of its reach after going 13-8 in the league. The 25-7 overall record will be difficult to duplicate as the Quakers lost two key players to the majors. The Ivy League Player of the Year Mike Shannon and offensive threat Mark De Rosa now play in the Phillies and Braves systems, respectively. "Though we lost a lot, I think we may have one of our best freshman classes ever to come in here," Seddon said. The return of juniors Mark Nagata(.308, 17 RBI) and Joe Carlon (.264, 20 RBI) should give the Quakers offensive experience. The pitching will rely on five returning veterans to carry the load. Senior Mike Greenwood (3-3) will hold down one spot in the rotation, and Armen Simonian (5-2, 3.29 ERA, 52 strikeouts) should provide stability in the rotation. "No one will be stronger than us defensively on the infield, even with the loss of De Rosa," Seddon said. The Quakers will need the underclassmen to emerge and contribute as the team will consist of "12 new faces."
(03/04/97 10:00am)
For most of the Penn student body, spring break will be a time to hit the beach and relax. For the men's tennis team, it will be a time to hit the courts and do anything but relax. The Quakers destroyed the competition on Friday and Saturday in Levy Pavilion, leaving no doubts that they are ready to hit the road and face the best of the best. Beginning with Richmond on Friday (7-0) and moving on to George Washington (6-1) and St. Bonaventure (7-0), the Quakers won 20 of 21 possible team points, mopping the court with the opponents. "We came out and smoked a GW team that we had trouble beating in the fall, and ripped a good Richmond team," Penn junior Marc Fisicaro said. The Quakers' lineup had to overcome adversity to accomplish this feat. Fisicaro and Penn coach Gene Miller decided it would be best for the No. 2 singles player to take the weekend off in hopes of being at the top of his game for the long trip south. The Quakers also were without senior co-captain J.J. Cramer due to some nagging injuries. The absence of these two key pieces to the Quakers mix made it necessary for Miller to play his cards in hopes of coming up with yet another workable hand. "The team needs to find alternative ways to win, and they need to find ways to overcome adversity -- they did a great job with that over the weekend," Miller said. The new lineup faced a Richmond team that had upset Penn at home three years ago. The doubles teams gave Penn their first point with relative ease. In the absence of Fisicaro and Cramer, Miller paired Cramer's co-captain and partner in crime, Brad Goldberg, with Penn sophomore Udi Kish. The team was unable to pull out the "W," dropping the match 9-7. Miller's other experiment proved worthwhile as the team of Joel Silman and Urs Baertschi crushed the No. 2 doubles of the Spiders 8-1. Dominic Rioux and David Schwartzman rounded out the winning effort with an 8-5 showing. The play of the singles was telling in the absence of Penn's quiet leader Fisicaro. "With Marc out, everyone had to step up and raise their level of play to win these matches," Miller said. The keyed up Quakers put it all together. The singles players didn't lose a match as Kish started off with a 6-1, 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory. Silman stepped up to No. 2 and Goldberg at No. 3, both winning in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2 and 6-4, 6-4, respectively. Strong play was also exhibited by Jordan Szekely (3-6, 6-3, 6-4), Baertschi (4-6, 6-0, 6-2) and Michael Klatsky (6-3, 6-2) giving the Quakers a shutout. This momentum carried over to the Saturday dual match with the Colonials and the Bonnies. Penn spoiled the return of former assistant coach Michael Bates, by racking up their second shutout in as many days. Miller was able to see the future of his tennis program in action, as he completely juggled the lineup giving many underclassmen a chance to play singles. The familiar names played the top with Baertschi at No. 1, Rioux at No. 2 and Schwartzman at No. 3. Every singles player was victorious in straight sets. The George Washington match was a whole different story. The Quakers began the match faced with the notion that this would be yet another dogfight as it was in the fall. The same three doubles teams which opposed Richmond were unable to earn the doubles point. The team of Baertschi and Silman gave Penn their only doubles victory, and watched GW go ahead a quick 1-0. The match quickly made a volteface, as the singles matches began. Penn quickly proved that they were the better squad, and for the third match straight, not one singles player lost a match. "We need to use this match as a launching pad for the trip and become a more attacking team for the play we are going to see next week," Miller said. The Quakers will take this momentum against a tough South Alabama team. With the return of the leadership of Cramer and Fisicaro to the lineup, the team should be bolstered enough to give the Quakers signs of hope. "We need to believe we can beat this level of competition? we went to Illinois looking to learn, but we found out that we aren't that different from that level," Fisicaro said. Fisicaro's return should lift the level of play just through presence. The junior has been consistent at No. 2 all season en route to a 8-1 season for the Quakers, 6-0 this spring. The rest will have to wait until summer. The Quakers will prove that they can break the next level with South Alabama and Miami next week.
(02/27/97 10:00am)
The St. Bonaventure's men's tennis coach brings his team to Penn, where he used to be an assistant. The Penn men's tennis team will look to keep alive some tradition this weekend as they take on three teams in two days at Levy Pavilion. Winning is a tradition that must be maintained in hopes of garnering momentum going into spring break. The Quakers (3-0) will begin on this track against a tough Richmond squad at 4 p.m. tomorrow. The weekend will culminate Saturday with a dual match against George Washington and St. Bonaventure. The match against the Bonnies will be the other restoration of Penn tradition, as St. Bonaventure coach Michael Bates will make his first return to the Penn campus as coach of another tennis team. Bates worked as an assistant under the tutelage of Penn coach Gene Miller before being offered the job as coach of both the men's and women's teams at St. Bonaventure after the 1995 fall season. "He is a really, really nice guy, and this will be a kind of homecoming for him," Quakers sophomore Udi Kish said. St. Bonaventure had an extremely successful fall season, posting a 6-0 record against opponents such as Xavier, Dayton and Youngstown State. The spring season has been more humbling, though, as Bates has drawn better opponents for his squad, such as Cornell. The Bonnies have also dealt with the injury bug. Battling to get atop the .500 mark in the spring, the Bonnies have managed just one win against two losses. "I think this will be a good match for everyone -- it is a good opportunity for them to play stronger teams," Kish said. Tomorrow's match should present a difficult opening for the weekend as the Quakers will face a strong Richmond team. The Spiders are coming off of a tough loss against Virginia last weekend, which brought their season record to an even 4-4. They are, however, a team that has previously played well while in Philadelphia. "This is a team that came into our house and beat us three years ago. Even though some of their top players have had injury problems, we have to be ready for them," Miller said. The last of the three opponents this weekend is George Washington, a team that the Quakers earned a victory against in the fall. "It was a win that came down to the last match. We were able to win it, 4-3, and it was an important win for us," Kish said. The lineup will remain the same as in recent matches. The singles will match Kish at No. 1 and junior Marc Fisicaro at No. 2, as usual. The remaining singles will be similar to the past couple of matches, with senior Brad Goldberg, senior Joel Silman, sophomore Jordan Szekely and senior J.J. Cramer all remaining through the third to sixth positions in the singles. The doubles teams of Goldberg and Cramer and Kish and Fisicaro may find themselves with a challenge this weekend. The lone win of the Richmond squad in their Virginia match was by their No. 1 doubles squad, who dominated, winning 8-3. The Quakers will need to perform well this weekend if they intend to carry the desired momentum into a rigorous spring break schedule. The spring will bring South Alabama and Miami (Fla.) -- national powers that will give Penn more bruises. Penn should be ready though after taking a much needed weekend off. After incurring the domination of powerhouse teams in Illinois, the Quakers barely squeaked out a win against Temple which they were "happy to have" but still not "completely pleased about." "This is a packaged deal obviously, with three teams in two days, but we need to just take it one match at a time and gain some steam going into the spring," Miller said. The well-rested Quakers should should be able to keep some of the traditions of old this weekend. While one is being brought to them in ex-coach Bates, the winning tradition will have to be earned against these three teams.
(02/20/97 10:00am)
The Quakers are benefitting from a grueling early-season schedule. The Penn men's tennis team looked to avoid getting an education at Penn today after putting their entire weekend under the column of "learning experience." Levy Pavilion was home of the third win of the spring season for the players. The Quakers battled out a win -- slightly edging Temple, 4-3. The match began in smooth fashion for Penn (3-0), which earned a point in its favor by taking two of the three doubles matches. The combination of senior co-captains Brad Goldberg and J.J. Cramer started Penn in the win column with an 8-1 victory. Penn junior Marc Fisicaro and sophomore Udi Kish managed to get the decisive victory, 8-4, while Dominic Rioux and David Schwartzman were unable to capitalize, losing a tough match, 8-5. The singles draws proved to be more difficult in the taking, however. "This team just came in pumped up to play us, but we were ready to play," Goldberg said. The Penn players showed some difficulty, but more fight, coming off of a long weekend. "The guys were a little fatigued after the weekend and, maybe, still had it a little in their minds," Penn coach Gene Miller said. The Quakers got the better of their fatigue, as their depth enabled them to win some key matches. Though both No. 1 Kish and No. 2 Fisicaro lost, 1-6, 6-7, (5-7) and 2-6, 6-1, 3-6, respectively. No. 3 Joel Silman gave the squad a boost, however, with a relatively easy victory, 6-3, 6-0. Though Goldberg was unable to fend off his opponent at No. 4, 3-6,4-6, the Penn squad was able learn from their difficulties at the top of singles play. "This was a match we could have easily lost -- they happen to be deeper than usual this season," Goldberg said. This depth proved to be the key for the Quakers though, and not the Owls. The play of No. 5 singles sophomore Jordan Szekely and No. 6 J.J. Cramer proved to be the difference. Szekely won a long first set, 7-5, looking a though he would have a long battle. In the end, his play proved to be too much for his Temple opponent, Adam Dickinson, in the second set, as he eased to a win, 6-1. This type of toughness was the key to the match in Miller's mind. "We toughed out a difficult situation, even the guys who lost exhibited so much toughness," Miller said. Cramer turned in what may have been the most valuable performance of the day. After combining with teammate Goldberg to chip in to the doubles side of the draw, Cramer looked to help the team at the No. 6 singles draw. Cramer seemed to avoid the problem of fatigue from the long weekend. Taking the match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, Cramer's match gave the Quakers the third singles point and the all-important fourth overall for the team. The Quakers' victory yesterday marked the end of what Miller called the "dangerous part" of the season. Playing a full weekend with three high-quality teams and coming back with another tough match the same week tested the team. "This weekend will help us tremendously in the long run. When we see Dartmouth and Harvard later in the season, it will be just another match," Goldberg said. Miller's team will have several more difficult matches to prepare them for the "heart" of schedule in the Ivy League. With the likes of Richmond and George Washington next weekend as well as nationally acclaimed teams like Miami (Fla.) and South Alabama, the schedule seemingly has no breaks. Yesterday's match indicates that Miller's intent to play a tough schedule is paying off. The Quakers were able to rebound from a weekend of getting drubbed by national powers in Illinois and regain their confidence to beat Temple and get back on the way to victory.
(02/19/97 10:00am)
Ranked No. 66, Penn played against much better teams at the Fighting Illini Classic. Being among the elite may not always be an easy experience, but difficulties can translate into benefits. The Penn men's tennis team went to Champaign, Ill., last weekend knowing that the competition would consist of the nation's best, as the Quakers took part in the Fighting Illini Classic. The tournament matched the Red and Blue against three teams with considerably higher rankings than the Quakers' position at No. 66. The field was led by powerhouse Florida, Southern Methodist and the host, Illinois. The SMU team was the closest to Penn at No. 50. The other two teams were considerably higher, with the Illini at No. 30 and the Gators at No. 15. This matching is easily the most difficult for the squad this season. "This was something we had to do if the program wants to continue becoming better," Quakers sophomore Udi Kish said. This sentiment was one shared by others on the team, recognizing that the team needed to see the teams at the next level to make playing with them an option. Penn junior Marc Fisicaro felt the opportunity proved that Penn, though not victorious, was not far from reaching this upper echelon of tennis competition. The Penn squad is one of relatively "little difference" in talent according to Fisicaro, but their opponents "won't make the first error." "The little differences are huge. I had chances in my matches against them, and I just didn't get them again," Fisicaro said. The first obstacle that Penn faced was the drastic change in the level of the facilities, which dictated the play. The tennis pavilion at Illinois is a brand new facility, making play faster and harder. "Their play was very suited to the facilities; the courts were much faster than Levy, and it took a little while to get used to the timing," Kish said. This geared the matches toward a serve and volley strategy, proving difficult for a Quakers team that plays mainly from the baseline. The match did allow many to enter the arena. The "flight" format enabled the eight singles seeds and three doubles teams to play all three teams. This gave Penn coach Gene Miller the ability to flip-flop the bottom of the lineup and test different people in different singles spots. The top several seeds were fairly consistent, with Kish at No. 1 and Fisicaro at No. 2. Joel Silman played the two days of the contest at third singles after sitting out the first day with a broken toe. The pain seemingly had little effect on Silman, as he proved to be one of the few Quakers to pull off a victory. Penn senior co-captain Brad Goldberg filled the third slot in the first day while playing No. 4 the other two days. The No. 5 position was played by Jordan Szekely. Szekely was one of the few Quakers to win any flight. The rest of the lineup included senior J.J Cramer, Urs Baertschi, Dominic Rioux and David Schwartzman. Penn looks to move beyond this tomorrow as they take on Temple at the Levy Pavilion at 3 p.m. The Quakers will revert back to the standard match (six singles and three doubles) with the lineup resembling the top six singles of the weekend. The one major difference that will occur is Cramer moving into the starting No. 5 spot for the singles play. Cramer will also team up with Goldberg in doubles. They will be joined by a team of Kish and Fisicaro, leaving the third doubles team up for grabs. Going through the climb may have its troubles, but the Quakers team will be better prepared in the future. The Quakers look ahead knowing they hung with the best.
(02/07/97 10:00am)
The Quakers did not lose a match against West Virginia or American while hosting the Penn Conference Classic. The Penn men's tennis team began the spring half of the season by making a statement today at Levy Pavilion -- they will fight to win all year. Going into the day, the Quakers knew they would have to be on top of their game to stay ahead of the competition. The team managed to better their expectations, throwing shutouts at both American and West Virginia in the Penn Conference Classic. "It was a solid way to start out the season," Penn coach Gene Miller said. Miller's decisions to mix up the lineup on the opening day of the season proved to be beneficial to the squad's performance. The only Penn doubles team allowed to play in this format was senior J.J. Cramer and freshman Dominic Rioux. This teaming broke up the regionally ranked doubles team of Cramer and his co-captain Brad Goldberg, with Goldberg playing at the third singles spot. "It is always nice to play with J.J., -- he has a great serve. We never played together in the fall, but we have been playing together in practice," Rioux said. These shifts in the lineup proved effective as the doubles partners achieved victory in both matches. After finding their chemistry on the road to victory against American, they were completely dominant in the second match of the day against West Virginia. "It took a little while to get back in the groove of playing a really serious competitive match, to get really focused," Cramer said. The positioning also proved to be to the advantage of Goldberg at the No. 3 position. The senior managed to take both of his matches with relative ease. The rest of the singles bracket also fueled the fire, with several of the members of the Penn team posting easy wins. Top singles player Udi Kish placed a check in the win column in his second match against the Mountaineers. The team format took Kish's first match out of his hands. With the sophomore from Israel up one break in the third set, the match had to be stopped before the end as the team had already claimed victory. "The important thing was the victory for the team," Kish said. Playing at the second spot, junior Marc Fisicaro contributed a 'W' in the first match against American. Fisicaro's second match was also a casualty of the success of the team. The No. 4 post was taken by different men in each of the two matches. In the earlier bid the it was played by Quakers freshman Michael Klatsky. Klatsky emerged victorious, but was unable to play the second match, as he had to leave due to his commitment to Penn's junior varsity basketball team. The team did not miss a beat. The fourth spot was quickly picked up by senior Joel Silman. Silman found no difficulty helping the Quakers to their second sweep of the day, winning in straight sets. Miller was satisfied with the smooth switch of the lineup. "We are going to win a lot of matches because of our depth," the sixth-year Penn coach said. "We have a lot of kids that are going to get a chance to step in, and when they step in they have to produce." Although this match seemed fairly simple in the taking, it by no means gives the Quakers the ability to relax. "The whole team took this match real seriously. The team learned a lot last year after some tough losses, so we gave them the respect they deserved," Cramer said. Although the Quakers were not affected by the unorthodox format (four singles and one doubles instead of five and two), it was a good gauge of the team's preparation. "It is hard to figure out what you need to work on in a match like this, because when you are playing well you are going to roll," Cramer said. Beginning the year with a double sweep in match play gives Penn great hopes for the future. The showing yesterday at home is a stepping stone for the team's goals for the rest of the year.
(02/06/97 10:00am)
The South will rise again, but the Quakers will have the Southerners in their cross-hairs, looking to shoot them down every step of the way. The Penn men's tennis team exudes this sentiment. With a 2-1 record from the fall, Penn looks eagerly to their first match of the spring when they take the court against the Eagles of American and the Mountaineers of West Virginia tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. The Quakers will host the Penn Conference Classic -- the first competition of the dual match -- which will be the first team competition at Penn this year. This round-robin type format will give all three teams the chance to play one another in what will be a grueling day-long schedule. The structure of the event will be an unfamiliar one for the Red and Blue, because it allows each team to put only four singles players and one doubles team into the mix instead of the usual five singles and two doubles matches. American will be competing in its first dual match of the 1996-97 season, having sent players to a series of invitationals, including the North Carolina State Invite and the D.C. Metro Invitational. The West Virginia squad has more team match experience, playing two team matches this season. The Mountaineers, 1-1 on the season, defeated Akron and registered a loss to Louisville. At 2-1 Penn brings in the most wins as a team, having defeated both George Washington and Dartmouth by counts of 4-3. The sentiment within the team is that they will be posed with a difficult opposition, having no opportunity to ease into the season. The Quakers will look to be led by the play and experience of players like sophomore Udi Kish. "It's our opening match of the season, and we've been practicing really hard. We all arrived a couple days before the semester just to get ourselves ready," Kish said. The singles play will be led by Kish at the top spot, followed by junior Marc Fisicaro, Brad Goldberg and Michael Klatsky. The only doubles tandem playing will be that of senior co-captain J.J. Cramer and Dominic Rioux. Penn coach Gene Miller hopes this match will give him the opportunities he needs to fill out the rest of the positions. The sixth-year coach has chosen to break up his ranked doubles combination of Cramer and Goldberg, looking to give an extra player the opportunity to leave the confinement of engaging in match play only in practice. The format of this event allows the top players on the Quakers to emerge. Kish echoes the sentiment that this team's strength in depth may leave the battle for lineup positions a season-long competition within the team. Though Miller chose to place these four men in their respective positions, he feels that there are several others who may rotate through the lineup. The play of Joel Silman and Jordan Szeleky has provided Penn with a series of men capable of competing all the way up to the fourth and fifth spots. As the team returns senior leader Goldberg to his position with Cramer as a regionally ranked duo "a bunch of these guys could even slide up to three," according to Miller. Coming out at the beginning of the season with such intense competition, Miller has one objective. "We need to go out there and establish ourselves as a fighting team, we need to prove we are the team with the most hustle," Miller said. After a long fall season, hopes for a team ride to the top have returned to Levy Pavilion. Fueled by work and high aspirations, the Quakers want to be running on all gears from the start. "We are all ready; everyone is pretty much psyched," Kish said. Tomorrow's match with American and West Virginia will catapult the team off of the practice courts and into the competitive arena. "All the work has been done. All we can do now is go out and play," Miller said. The spring season will have arrived with the strike of the first serve this morning. The Penn men's tennis team will be ready to fight their way to the top of the region, beginning with the Penn Conference Classic.
(02/04/97 10:00am)
In the early stages of the season, the numbers may not be the best reflection of the success of a match. Last weekend, Quakers men's tennis coach Gene Miller took three players to the Princeton Spring Invitational with several objectives -- first and foremost to win. Although victory escaped two of the three Quakers, Miller feels the remaining objectives of the weekend were fulfilled. The sole Quaker to chalk up a 'W' was senior Joel Silman. The most experienced of the three Penn players, Silman managed to emerge victorious against Mike Schonbraum of Princeton 6-2, 6-1. Although Silman fell to Josh Houseman of Harvard 6-4, 6-4 in the second round, Miller felt the overall showing of Silman was a positive sign the Quakers are moving in the right direction. The play of sophomores David Schwartzman and Jordan Szekely did not earn a win for either player, but certainly left Miller looking to the future in a positive light. "I really believe in my guys and what they can do. I think they can beat any of these guys," Miller said. Schwartzman, who was dealt the toughest two draws of the three, first matched up against the Tigers' No. 1 singles player, Josh Gilula. Gilula, also the No. 23 player in the region, was given a scare by Schwartzman in the first set, 7-5, but managed to take the second set with relative ease (6-2). In the backdraw round, Schwartzman found himself matched against his second regionally-ranked opponent of the tournament. Living up to the competitiveness displayed in the first round, Schwartzman took Columbia freshman Salil Sashadri to the bitter end of a first-set tiebreaker, only to lose at 7-5. The second set proved to be slightly easier for Sashadri, the No. 10 player in the region, ending the tournament for Schwartzman after two difficult matches -- 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. Szekely's match also resulted in a loss for the sophomore, as he drew the toughest first-round, individual match. Penn State senior Michael Carter, the seventh-ranked player in the region, proved to be overpowering (6-1, 6-1). The first match, however, provided Szekely valuable experience for a difficult second match in the backdraw round. Szekely fared better against Mike Pasarella of Harvard, but was still unable to find the road to victory, losing 6-4, 6-1. Miller took these three into a field he knew would be strong. Essentially, the Quakers tossed what Miller feels will be his No. 4 through No. 6 players into a field of the top-three players of other schools. In addition, Miller accomplished his goals seeing the Penn representatives take to the court after a full winter's worth of work. "They were able to show improvement in the little things that we had been working on in practice, like our second serves and volleys," Miller said. Miller also used this showing to test what may prove a series of different doubles combinations to fill out the squads' last two doubles spots. He used Silman and Schwartzman together for the first time as doubles partners, looking for a spark of new chemistry. Their first match together proved a tough test as they played the 10th-ranked doubles team in the region. The tandem of Princeton sophomores Jeff Schacter and Patrick Sweeney brought not only their high ranking, but a unique doubles style stressing complete dominance of the baseline. The Tigers' hard-hitting proved to be too much for the first-time partners, but gave Miller something to think about for the immediate standing of his doubles parings. The Penn coach felt that they were able to keep this powerful team uncharacteristically off balance for most of the match, showing the "communication between doubles players" that is necessary to be successful.
(01/29/97 10:00am)
Looking to place their mark on Princeton before the season begins, Penn men's tennis coach Gene Miller will be taking three players into New Jersey this weekend for the Princeton Spring Invitational. Coming off of a tumultuous fall season, the Quakers squad has high aspirations for the spring season. This weekend's invitational will be the first of a series of gauges for Miller as to what needs to be done for the rest of the season. As an individual event, the Princeton Invitational allows only three players to be entered in the draw to maintain a non-team format. Though the team competition does not start until February 6, this event will give several players the chance to hone their skills before the dual match season begins for the rest of the team. The three entries represent the age diversity that may be the trademark of what Miller believes is a very talented squad. The sixth-year coach will be sending sophomores Jordan Szekely and David Schwartzman, as well as senior Joel Silman. With the strength of the team from the top to the bottom, the matches may help establish positions for these three in a wide-open Penn lineup. The Princeton Invitational will offer a challenge, as this tournament typically brings in many of the country's best players. According to Miller, the field will draw the top three singles players from the schools who will be attending. Among these schools in the past have been such top-notch programs as Mississippi and Miami (Fla.). Beyond this weekend's tournament, the season commands a grueling schedule which should prove to be a challenge for a Quakers squad hoping to establish their place in the elite of the Ivy League. Penn senior co-captain Brad Goldberg feels that this team will have a difficult road to travel. "This is by far the toughest schedule we have ever played," Goldberg said. The schedule includes top-20 teams like Southern Alabama. The ultimate goal, according to Goldberg, is to make the regional tournament. The top three teams at regionals would then go to the NCAA tournament at the end of the season. Miller believes such accomplishments are possible, but will take much work. The winter has brought nagging injuries to the Quakers, leaving many positions on the team up for grabs. Miller feels that the only two positions which are definitely a lock are those of his No. 1 and No. 2 singles players, filled by sophomore Udi Kish and junior Marc Fisicaro. While the singles ranks promise to provide some changes throughout the course of the season, the consistent improvement of the doubles players should also provide some stability. Two of the Quakers' doubles pairings will begin the season regionally-ranked. Led by the senior co-captain tandem of Goldberg and J.J. Cramer, Penn's doubles should provide tough competition throughout the region. "They have a special magic that when they connect is very difficult to beat -- they always seem to know what the other one is doing," Miller said. The team would like to see the emergence of two other consistent doubles teams, a task which may take some maneuvering. Led by some key senior leadership, and with the emergence of some of the young talent, control of the Ivy League seems within the reach of the Quakers. The season should pave the way towards success, and possibly the East regionals later this spring.
