Penn women's tennis aiming for double the wins this weekend

Is two always better than one?

The Penn women’s tennis team will have to answer that question this weekend in a pair of crucial home matches.

Friday and Saturday, the Quakers (8-4, 0-1 Ivy) will take on Brown (6-7, 0-0 ) and Yale (11-2, 0-0) on their own turf at the Hamlin Tennis Center.

The Quakers faced the same doubleheader last year, but both were on the road.

After losing to the Bears and Bulldogs in their last go-round, the Red and Blue are ready to settle the scores on their own court.

“At every home match, especially when we are outside, we feel the home court advantage,” coach Sanela Kunovac said.

Kunovac explained that while the team thrives on the outdoor courts at Hamlin, this factor alone is not enough to get the edge over both Brown and Yale.

“Brown and Yale have both outdoor and indoor courts,” she said. “They know how to handle both environments. If they only had indoor courts, like Columbia, then we might have more of the advantage.”

Confidence has been the team’s main philosophy so far this season, which has led to a strong nonconference performance by the Quakers. However,now that Ivy play has started off on the wrong foot with a loss to Princeton, Kunovac hopes that her team keeps its head up.

“The league is good,” Kunovac said, “But our doubles team is tremendous. We are a solid team, we just need to nurture and build on that.”

At the Princeton match, freshman Sonya Latycheva starred, winning both her singles and doubles matches for the only Penn victories of the day.

“Sonya stepped up,” Kunovac said. “We need everyone else to step up as well.”

Being such a small team, losing senior captain Jules Rodin to a broken ankle weighs heavily on the team.

With Rodin out, the Quakers will have to dig deep from within.

“These matches will more than test our tennis [abilities],” Kunovac said. “They will test our mental strength.”

With many more Ivy matches in their future, the Quakers hope to move onward and upward.

“It is an uphill battle,” Kunovac said. “I expect them to fight.”

SEE ALSO

Quakers tennis drops Ivy opener vs. Princeton, 6-1

Penn squad happy to play the underdog

Penn women’s tennis shuts out Temple, 7-0”

Confidence high for women’s tennis

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.