Levy courts will be very busy

Women victorious in first two After a two-month winter layoff, the Penn women's tennis team showed no signs of sluggishness last weekend at Levy Pavilion. The Quakers opened the spring season by ripping Villanova 9-0 last Friday and holding off a tough Rutgers squad Sunday, 5-4. "I'm really excited," Penn coach Cissie Leary said. "With Villanova, we definitely expected to win, but with Rutgers I knew it would be a war. They were ranked ahead of us in the fall so this was a big win for us. I felt we could beat them, but we had to play well." Senior co-captains Leanne Mos and Suejin Kim set the tone early against the Pioneers, rolling to a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Thayer and Tchourumoff at No. 2 doubles. With the Quakers clinging to a 2-1 lead going into singles play, veteran Kim stepped up once again and handily disposed of Rutgers' Stacey Strolovitz 6-3, 6-1 in No. 4 singles to give Penn the momentum and a comfortable two-game lead. "Suejin was rock solid," Leary said. "She and Leanne had a super doubles match, and Suejin just went out and clocked her opponent in doubles." After sophomore Preety Sorathia defeated Christina Thayer 6-3, 6-4, in No. 3 singles, junior Cori Sibley fought through a sprained ankle to clinch the dual meet victory by wearing down the Pioneers' Prabha Sukumaran 6-1, 6-3. For Sorathia, Sunday's match against Thayer had a special significance. "It was almost more than a match," Sorathia said. "Christina and I trained together when we were at Middle States. We traveled together and we practiced together, so we became pretty good friends. That made it kind of a nervous match." Against Villanova, Penn had no problems emotional or otherwise. The Quakers took eight of the nine matches in straight sets, four of them 6-0, 6-0. Only Mos in No. 2 singles came out flat, dropping the first set to Wildcat Kelly Barnes before rallying to capture a 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) victory. "She was a good player, but I definitely wasn't myself in the first set," Mos said. "I started playing a lot better in the second set." With its two season-opening victories, Penn (2-0) has duplicated its quick fall start when the Quakers breezed through their first two meets only to drop five of their next six. Nevertheless, Penn believes it has matured mentally over the winter. "The freshmen are used to being with the team now," Sorathia said. "The team dynamics are much more close-knit, and I think you can see that in our matches." Leary sees a physical improvement in the squad as well. "Physically, I think we're looking really good," Leary said. "Everybody's hitting the ball really well and they're focusing pretty well. I'm really excited right now." The players are taking a more cautious approach to their early success. "These two matches were good practice to get ready for spring break," Sorathia said. "But it's after spring break in the Ivy League when it really matters." · Sorathia, Mos and Kim will travel to Princeton today for the three-day Princeton Invitational tournament. Mos and Sorathia will compete in the singles bracket while Mos and Kim will team up to represent Penn in doubles. "This weekend is really just for rankings," Sorathia said. "To us, it's just like a formal practice for spring break."

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