The men's tennis team begins its Atlantic 10 schedule when it hosts Temple at 2:30 p.m. today at the Indoor Tennis Club.

The Lions (2-4) will be without the services of senior Mark Cavalier, who has missed practice last week because of a virus. Cavalier is the Penn State's No. 3 singles player and teams with Dave Schoenly on the No. 1 doubles team.

"It could be a difficult match," freshman Mark Price said. "But if we hang in there and play tough I think we can do well."

Temple defeated Penn State, 6-3, in the first round of the ECAC Intercollegiate Team Championship last fall. The Lions lost despite having Cavalier and senior Dave Welch, who left the team this spring, in the lineup.

Penn State's singles lineup today will feature freshman Jason Rayman in the No. 1 spot, followed by Schoenly, Price, Scott Pickering, Corey Goldstein and Sean Snee.

"It's kind of a makeshift lineup, but it's what I have to go with right now," Coach Holmes Cathrall said. "It's going to be tough."

Rayman was the Lions' top singles player last fall, posting a 10-3 record and winning a pair of singles titles at Eastern tournaments. After Rayman and Schoenly, however, Penn State's singles players will be competing higher in the lineup than they are used to.

"(Temple is) a little stronger than we are at the top of the lineup," Cathrall said. "If we can win a couple matches at the top, I think we can do well at the bottom."

The Lions' doubles lineup will be even more scrambled. Schoenly and Goldstein will team up for the first time in the No. 1 spot.

The No. 2 doubles team will be Rayman and Price, who went 4-2 last fall as a pair. In their first-ever match, Rayman and Price advanced to the finals of the Swarthmore Invitational before losing to a duo from Bloomsburg.

Pickering and Troy Surdick will team up at the No. 3 doubles position.

"If we could win a doubles match, I think we have a good shot at winning the match," Cathrall said.

The Lions last played on March 1, when they completed their spring break trip with a 7-2 loss to Elon College.

"We've been practicing for two weeks now," Cathrall said. "I think we're looking for somebody else to play with."

"I think we're finally coming together," Price said. "Last fall was just an abomination and we knew we had to come together to play well."