Netmen facing high ranked rival Princeton

Lions and Tigers are going to do battle this weekend, but not in the wild. They'll be smashing fuzzy balls at each other on a tennis court.

The Penn State men's tennis team (2-2) will take on the Princeton Tigers (3-2) at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow at Princeton's Jadwin Gymnasium. Penn State is ranked No. 3 in the East Region and Princeton is not far behind at No. 5.

The Lions are coming off a loss to No. 17 Harvard last Sunday and hope to go above the .500 mark with a win against the Tigers. With a win, coach Jan Bortner would bring his career total at Penn State to 100 in just eight years of coaching in Happy Valley.

"It's going to be very close," Bortner said. "And it is a very crucial match for us."

Princeton thinks likewise.

"It's probably going to be tight," Princeton tennis media contact Mike Zulla said. "It'll probably be a 4-3 score one way or the other."

In singles competition, Penn State No. 1-seed junior Mike Griesser (8-6 in singles) is scheduled to face Princeton's hard-hitting co-captain senior Johnathan Gilula. Griesser, who loves to slam his serve and then immediately attack the net, should have his hands full against Gilula but knows how he will approach the match.

"It's going to be a really tough match for me," Griesser said. "But, I'm just going to be very aggressive."

Behind Griesser is No. 2-seed Colin Smeeton (6-8 in singles), the lone Penn State senior. He will be paired up with Griesser to form Penn State's most potent doubles team. Thus far, the tandem is sporting a 6-5 record.

The second-seeded doubles team for Penn State will be junior Eric Meditz and sophomore Marc Dorfman.

Following the match against Princeton, the Lions will head to Miami for their annual spring break training trip. The week-long trip will be filled with sun, sand, tennis and even more tennis.

"We're going to use the trip to get in a lot of practice and to get used to the outdoor game," Bortner said. "It's very different from the indoor game."

Not everyone is just thinking about tennis however. Some people want to have fun and actually "take a break" from the Penn State daily grind.

"It's going to be great to go to downtown Miami and hang out," Griesser said.