Bernstein stars over weekend

Penn women's tennis senior co-captain Barrie Bernstein was playing at the top of her game as she played her way to the semifinals in the Rolex Intercollegiate Tennis Championships this past weekend. Bernstein became the first female tennis player from Penn to reach that level in Quaker history in what coach Cissie Leary described as "the premier eastern collegiate women's tennis tournament." More than 200 players apply to get in the tournament from more than 50 Division I schools in the East Region. A committee selects the top 92 based on their records. Even with this heavy competition, Bernstein obliterated her opponents. Her second-round, third-round and quarterfinal victories were decided by a combined 36 games to two. In her quarterfinal victory, Bernstein continually hit the ball hard to each side keeping her opponent, William & Mary's Christine Caltoum, running. She also came to the net often to hit drop shots and overhand smashes. Both finalists are guaranteed places in the national women's collegiate tennis tournament to be held at Southern Methodist in Dallas next February. Bernstein, however, was unable to defeat her semifinal opponent, No. 2 Jana Strnadova from Syracuse. Leary said Bernstein appeared nervous as she quickly fell behind 4-0. The Quakers seventh seed was able to come back, breaking her opponent's serve twice, but eventually lost the first set, 6-3. They both exchanged two breaks to start the second set, but Bernstein's unforced errors soon plagued her again. She lost the second set and the match, 6-3. Penn's other two singles players, Preety Sorathia and Lara Afanassiev, also did well. Freshman Afanassiev defeated her first-round opponent, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. She was unable to continue her success against seeded Karina Ramirez of George Washington, falling 6-0, 6-3. Sorathia received a bye in the first round, and pulled past Drexel's top player, Rebecca Murphy, 6-4, 6-4, in the second. Her run ended as Cornell's Olga Itsoki prevailed, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. Penn's doubles team of Sorathia and Bernstein reached the semifinals of the 48-team tournament. The Quakers defeated teams from Columbia, W & M and Harvard after their first-round bye without losing a set. After winning the first set and having three match points in the second-set tie-breaker, Bernstein and Sorathia were finally turned back by a team from W & M, 3-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4. Leary looks optimistically toward the spring season. "Penn made a statement," she said. "We know we can play."