W Tennis breezes past Terrapins

After suffering a defeat to Princeton in its first league match, the Penn women's tennis team rebounded to overwhelm the Maryland Terrapins Tuesday. Under the consistent leadership of No. 1 singles player Barrie Bernstein, the Quakers rolled to a 7-2 victory. Bernstein has compiled a 16-10 record this year, and since the spring season started, she is an outstanding 6-3. She kept true to form against the Terps as she lost a meager three games combined in both her singles and doubles matches. First she teamed up with sophomore Preety Sorathia to shutout Maryland's Bresha Byrd and Julie Cady 8-0. This victory was important because it gave Bernstein a great deal of confidence going into her singles match. Byrd, a transfer from Florida State, has been highly ranked in numerous tournaments and was supposed to be a formidable opponent. "In the doubles match, she didn't impress me too much," Bernstein said. "The confidence sort of carried over. But in the [singles] match I barely made any mistakes. I was able to put pressure on her instead of letting her dictate the match, I was able to dictate it." Penn coach Cissie Leary praised Bernstein's play. She characterized her singles match as nearly perfect. It was a very disciplined and technically good match. Bernstein played a spirited game that was highlighted by many excellent shots, she said. This victory is also important because it gives Penn momentum as it heads into the meat of the schedule. It did the Quakers a great deal of good to defeat a team so handily in such horrid conditions. The Quakers overcame the fact there were only three courts, which results in a long day, as well as miserable weather. "We were expected to win, and we pulled it off," senior co-captain Suejin Kim said. "It was one of those matches where it was good to get it over with. The conditions were horrible, it was rainy, windy and cold. It was one of those days where you had to concentrate to do what you had to do or else you would lose." Junior Cori Sibley shined in contrast to weather. Following Bernstein's lead, she only lost seven games in her two matches. She defeated Corey Shapiro, 6-0, 6-2, in her singles match. This came after she paired up with sophomore Beth Brady in her doubles match to defeat Maryland's third doubles team, 8-4. Her success was reflective of the Quakers' overall success. Aside from the two matches that were lost, Penn was in complete control. Not one Quaker lost a set, with the closest one coming in the third singles match. But Sorathia held on to win her second set, 7-5. With the trouncing of Maryland, Penn has found two important aspects. One is oh-so-precious confidence, but more importantly the Quakers have found a bona fide leader in Barrie Bernstein.