Quakers win three straight

Penn looks toPenn looks tocontinue streakPenn looks tocontinue streakagainst Maryland After a somewhat disappointing start to the spring season, the Penn women's tennis team rebounded with back-to-back wins against Old Dominion and Syracuse. The Quakers were able to extend their streak to three wins with a 6-1 victory against the Tigers on Saturday, and they will look to continue their recent success at Maryland (6-5) today at 2 p.m. "The Princeton match was really big," Quakers coach Cissie Leary said. "We said we were going to win, and we did." Princeton (1-4, 1-1 Ivy League), one of the teams that will be contending for the Ivy League title, had defeated Columbia on Friday and was looking to record its second-straight Ivy League victory. The Quakers (5-3, 1-0) struggled in the beginning, but persevered to win the doubles' point -- by winning two of the three doubles' matches. Lara Afanassiev and Julia Feldman posted Penn's first victory at No. 1 doubles by a score of 8-6. Then, at No. 2 doubles -- with the score tied at eight games -- Penn co-captains Preety Sorathia and Beth Brady lost a heartbreaking tie-breaker, 9-7. Because of the split at the first two positions, the doubles' point was determined at No. 3 doubles, where Quaker freshmen Karen Ridley and Corin Esterowitz fell behind 5-0. However, the duo was able to take seven of the last nine games to prevail by a score of 9-7. The Penn freshmen performed well in singles play as well. Karen Ridley, Julia Feldman, and Yukie Tokuda guaranteed victory for the Quakers with a relatively easy two-set wins at the No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 positions respectively. And although the result of the match was no longer in question, Preety Sorathia and Lara Afanassiev improved their individual records with impressive three-set victories at No. 1 and No. 2 singles. The Quakers' win was especially important because it was their first Ivy League contest and gave them a jump on the competition. "It was a great way to start off the conference season," Leary said. "But we have a long way to go." Penn heads to Maryland today to compete in its final non-conference match of the season hoping to build on its winning ways. The quality of the Maryland team varies from year to year because of its changing scholarship policies. In the last two years the Terrapins only had only a few scholarship players and the Quakers defeated them twice. However, this year the women's tennis program received more funds allowing the team to offer scholarships to six of its athletes. Maryland is led by seniors Bresha Byrd and Tatjana Dulic, but like the Penn team has several young players -- including three freshman. Taking on an Atlantic Coast Conference team with scholarship athletes will be a good challenge for the Quakers as they attempt to lengthen their winning streak.