W. Tennis host tournament

The Penn women's tennis team is having guests for Fall Break. The Quakers will compete against seven other teams as they host the ITA Team Regionals today and tomorrow. The eight teams playing on the Lott Courts and in Levy Pavilion make up only half of the actual tournament. Another eight teams are also competing this weekend at Princeton. The winning team from each location will then play in a championship match Sunday at Princeton. But before the Quakers can make the journey to Princeton, they will have to face some tough competition on their own courts. "They all have really good players," senior co-captain Barrie Bernstein said. "They have strong teams and are very deep. If I could beat any of the girls, it would be a good win." This season, Penn has not had any matches with the teams they will face today. However, the Quakers fell 3-6 to Old Dominion last year at the ITA Tournament which was held at Virginia Tech. A tough match can also be expected from William & Mary, which went to nationals last year. Boston College, Penn State, George Washington and Virginia Commonwealth will also be competing. The only other Ivy League team competing this weekend will be Harvard. "Harvard's going to be tough," Bernstein said. "They have great recruits and they had a strong team last year." Both the Eastern Collegiates and the Brown Invitational were individual competitions. The ITA Regional is the first team tournament Penn has played this season. "It's an individual match, but you are playing as a team and the team ends up being more important," junior Preety Sorathia said. The Quakers are looking forward to working as a team in a situation other than a dual match. Team tournaments take some of the pressure off individual players. This is especially welcome in tennis which is mainly an independent sport. "It's more fun than an individual tournament," Bernstein said. "It doesn't matter if one person wins or loses because you can count on the rest of the team." Beginning at 8:30 a.m. today, each team will play two matches. The second round begins at 3 p.m. The championship match will be held Saturday at noon inside Levy Pavilion. Although the Quakers plan on being gracious hosts, after the last match, they hope their guests will leave disappointed.