Penn opens season with 'Nova

After what one could only conclude to be a promising fall, the Penn women's tennis team is prepared to begin its spring season. Finishing the fall with a 6-2 dual match record, the Quakers are set to begin their spring campaign this afternoon at 3 p.m. against Villanova at the Levy Indoor Tennis Pavilion. Penn is led by senior co-captains Beth Brady and Preety Sorathia. While the Quakers defeated the Wildcats last spring, Villanova has a promising new freshman, Julie Bonner, in its No. 1 slot this year. Although Penn lacks the one single dominating rookie of Bonner's talent, it probably has the deeper freshmen class. The Quakers have three newcomers, led by singles player Yukie Tokuda, seeded among their top six players. Karen Ridley and Julia Feldman will likely start as one of Penn's doubles teams. In all likelihood, the freshmen will be keys Penn's Ivy League success. "It depends on how the freshman come together," coach Cissie Leary said. Although Penn fared well last year with a 5-2 conference record, this year provides new obstacles. While their performance in the fall was promising, the spring is where the Ivy title is decided. Calling the entire Ivy League very competitive, Leary feels Penn should finish in the top half of the Ancient Eight standings. Harvard is the clear-cut preseason favorite to take the league crown. Leary does not see any Ivy team capable of knocking the Crimson off the top of the hill. "Harvard is heads and tails above the rest," she said. While the freshmen continue their on-the-job training, Leary will look to sophomores Andi Grossman and Lara Afanassiev to be her go-to players. After today's match with Villanova, the Quakers will take on Rutgers at noon this Saturday afternoon at Levy. While only time will tell, a challenging pre-conference schedule spring-break trip through Louisiana should prepare the Quakers for the Ivy race. Both the Villanova and Rutgers matches should be excellent early-season barometers for Penn's prospects.