Penn dominates at Eastern Collegiates

Every Quaker made itEvery Quaker made itto the final match of herEvery Quaker made itto the final match of herrespective bracket In collegiate sports, every freshman hopes to play well early in the season. Arriving on the scene, fresh from high school stardom, they often find the talent at the next level intimidating. Doubts and anxiety may arise in their game, placing added stress on the shoulder's of a teenager, who, along with her workload from classes, probably has more than she can handle. For this reason, freshman usually find it invaluable to make a statement early, to impress their coaches and to ease the pressure they put on themselves. Last weekend, at the Eastern Collegiate tournament in Princeton, N.J., freshman Anastasia Pozdniakova of the Penn women's tennis team made hers with a sledgehammer. Playing as the top seed in the top singles group of the tournament, Pozdniakova swept through her bracket like a tornado, annihilating everyone who dared to stand across the net from her. In the finals, she faced her stiffest challenge, No. 2 seed Blair Farr of Princeton, but still came through easily, winning in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. The rest of the Quakers were no less dominant. Playing 'B' singles, Brooke Herman battled her way to the finals before being forced to retire in a hard-fought match against Princeton's Iyotana Vasisht. As a matter of fact, every singles player and doubles team the Quakers put on the court made it at least to the finals of the tournament. Though their was no team scoring, the Quakers shined brightest in a star-studded field. Penn co-captain Andi Grossman, one of the few Penn tennis players not seeded at the top of her bracket, demonstrated why Quakers coach Cissie Leary chose her as a team leader. Playing in the 'D' singles tournament, she easily dispensed of her first two foes. In her semifinal match, Grossman won a tiebreaker in the first set and went on to win ,7-6, 6-3. In the finals, she was declared the tournament champion when Princeton's Kerry Patterson was forced to retire due to an injury. Not to be outdone by her teammates, Penn sophomore Romy Mehlman, playing as the No. 2 seed in the 'C' singles tournament, survived three tough matches before falling to Princeton's Olivia Streatfield in the final, 6-2, 6-0. Mehlman's road to the final was a bumpy one and may have proved her undoing. Both her quarterfinal and semifinal matches were taken to three sets, and the effort seemed to take its toll on her in the final. In doubles play, it was all Penn. Following their teammates example, sophomores Karen Ridley and Alison Lacika bull-rushed their bracket. Sweeping through the field without losing a single set, they dominated the Princeton duo of Joanna Felton and Stephanie Alpert winning, 6-3, 6-2. The most anticipated performance of the week, however, had to be that of Penn's top doubles team, junior co-captain Lara Afanassiev and sophomore Julia Feldman. Coming off a humiliating loss a week earlier at the hands of Georgetown's Laura Schoellkopf and Katrina Mitchell, the pair was anxious to revenge its only blemish of an otherwise flawless season. Playing as the top doubles seed in the tournament, the duo had a surprisingly tough time making it to the finals. Winning their quarterfinal and semifinal matches, 6-3, 7-5, and 6-3, 6-4, Afanassiev and Feldman fought their way to an unlikely rematch with the same Georgetown team that had beaten them a scant week earlier. The Hoyas, unseeded, reached the finals by upsetting the No. 2 seeded Princeton entry in the semis. Winning the first set easily, Afanassiev and Feldman exacted their revenge on their opponents by finishing them off in an exciting tiebreaker to take the match in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6. The win capped off a thoroughly impressive performance by the entire Penn team and set the stage for the upcoming tournaments in the weeks to come.