Season Review: Spring could bloom Ivy title for W Tennis

After an impressive fall season, Penn women's tennis coach Cissie Leary has a lot to smile about. A thoroughly dominant regular-season performance, coupled with a strong showing at Easterns (where the Quakers finished as one of the top three or four teams in the region) has established Penn as a force to be reckoned with and, more importantly, as one of the top contenders for the Ivy League crown this spring. "I expected we could do this," Leary said. "I think last year we were a surprise, but this year has been more about getting our act together." The Quakers having returned essentially the same lineup that they had a year ago when they finished second to Harvard in the Ivy League. The inclusion of two phenomenal players, freshman recruit Anastasia Pozdniakova and sophomore transfer Brooke Herman, have given Penn the pieces it needs to put together a championship-caliber squad. Whether or not those pieces will fit, however, will be decided in the spring. As far as the newcomers are concerned, Leary is not worried. "I think they're really coming along," she said. "Brooke has had some injury problems, which have bothered her a little, but I'm expecting bigger and better things from the both of them." That could be a little frightening. With Pozdniakova and Herman filling out the top two singles spots this fall, Leary has been able to put junior co-captain Lara Afanassiev and sophomore Karen Ridley in the No. 3 and 4 positions. The ability to put the talented duo, both of whom have wins in the No. 1 singles spot this season, so deep in the lineup gives the Quakers a huge advantage over most of the teams they play against. The inclusion of sophomore Julia Feldman and junior co-captain Andi Grossman at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots has made the Quakers as solid as just about any team in the East. Despite how well this lineup has performed in the past few months, Leary insists that nothing is set in stone. "I think the lineup won't be resolved until the season begins," Leary said. "We'll just wait and see." In doubles play this fall, Leary has used an assortment of combinations, but every time she's changed the lineup, the results have usually been the sameE-- victory. Of the pairings, the most successful has been the team of Afanassiev and Feldman. The two have been turning heads all season, most recently at the Rolex Eastern Championships where they advanced to the fourth round before being knocked off by the top seed of the tournament. The other two doubles pairs that have won regularly have been the team of Ridley and freshman Allison Lacika and the pair Pozdniakova and freshman Elana Gold. Penn, however, has not been the only Ivy team that has had an impressive fall season. Strong showings by both Princeton and Brown give the Quakers every reason to be afraid. And than, of course, there are always the dreaded Crimson. While the Quakers proved themselves to be among the best teams at Easterns, Harvard showed itself to be the best team in the region. Leary knows that whatever her team has accomplished this fall won't mean a thing if it can't find a way to get by their league rivals in the spring. "As far as the Ivy League goes," Leary said. "Harvard is the team to beat."