By, Rico Chow '12

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The No. 59-ranked Santa Clara men's tennis team is preparing to host Western Athletic Conference foe Nevada and Ivy League opponent No. 71-ranked University of Pennsylvania. SCU will play against Nevada on Sat., Mar. 5 and against Penn on Mon., Mar. 7 at the Degheri Tennis Center. SCU currently owns an undefeated four matches winning-streak at home, and is 7-4 on the season (1-1 in WCC play).

Nevada heads into this weekend with a 2-5 overall mark and hopes to bounce back from its last match, a 2-5 loss against UC Davis, whom SCU swept with a 7-0 victory in the season-opener, on Feb. 27.

Penn has remained undefeated this season by winning eight straight, all at home. This is the first match Penn is playing against an ITA ranked-team and the Quakers first road match at the 2011 season. Seven more away matches are waiting for the Quakers before they return to their home-court. The key Quaker player is Hicham Laalej, who played six dual matches at No. 1 singles for Penn. Laalej is undefeated this season.

Both matches will be played at the Degheri Tennis Center. Saturday's match versus Nevada is set to begin at 10 a.m. and first serve for Monday's match versus Pennsylvania is set for 3 p.m. 

Go Broncos!