In August, they toiled in the hot summer sun to condition themselves and get back into shape. For the first three weeks of September, they played matches against each other to recapture their form and begin another season.

Now, finally, the members of the men's tennis team get their first real competition. Penn State is competing in the Swarthmore Invitational this weekend.

The Lions will compete against seven other teams -- Rutgers, Penn, Temple, Cornell, Bloomsburg, American and Swarthmore.

The team will be minus Brett Englesberg, who finished up last season with more pain than pleasure, and had to be content with seeing very minimal court time due to a sore elbow and injured back.

This year, Englesberg looked stronger and healthier than ever, taking advantage of Coach Jan Bortner's conditioning camp. However, now that Englesberg seems to be physically and mentally fit, yet another test has been set in front of him to pass.

"I have decided to take some time off from tennis," Englesberg said. "I won't be going to the invitational this weekend because I feel I need some time to rest and work on my academics."

So with Englesberg's return postponed, Bortner must do some juggling and decide on a lineup.

"We are still playing matches, but I'll have to make my final decisions soon," Bortner said.

The invitational is being run as a flighted tournament, with Penn State's No. 1 and No. 2 players competing in flight A, and so on down to flight D.

In the doubles competition, each school will enter one team per flight.

"There won't be any big mismatches since everyone will be similar in ability," Bortner said. "It's level against level."

Besides playing matches in practice, Bortner has the team working on fundamental stroke techniques which should help to clean up its game and produce some wins at the tournament.

Last year, the return of serve concerned Bortner, and it was emphasized in practice this week along with the serve and the serve-and-volley game.

"We've played a lot of matches to get ready, and it has helped us to get our competitiveness back," said Eduardo Abril, who was the team's No. 1 player last year.

Abril said the team has displayed a positive attitude toward this weekend, and there are no concerns.

"We are ready for this weekend," Abril said. "Everyone is in shape, and we are all playing at a high level."