Penn women’s tennis lost one of its all-time greatest coaches back in November 1996 when Cissie Leary died of scleroderma.
This weekend, the team will once again uphold her memory. From Friday until Sunday, the Quakers will host the 18th edition of Leary’s eponymous tournament.
Nine other teams will descend on the Hamlin Tennis Center this weekend, including Ivy rivals Harvard, Princeton and Yale.
This weekend’s tourney will be the Red and Blue’s first experience with the new NCAA Division I dual meet format. No-advantage scoring has replaced regular scoring in both singles and doubles matches, with doubles matches being shortened to six games. The simplified scoring system and shortened doubles matches are expected to significantly quicken the pace of play.
If last year’s results are any indication, this iteration of the tournament should have plenty of Red and Blue success.
Last year, then-junior Sol Eskenazi and then-sophomore Sonya Latycheva advanced all the way to the finals of the singles tournament. However, before they could play each other, Latycheva pulled out due to injury and conceded the title to Eskenazi by default.
With the two doubles partners both still on campus and competing for the Quakers, a rematch could be in the cards.
And there would be no better way to honor Leary’s memory.
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