After a brief break between the fall and the spring seasons, the Penn women's tennis team returns to action today with a 2 p.m. match against local rival Temple (0-0) at the Levy Indoor Tennis Pavilion. The Red and Blue are coming off a strong fall season in which they finished 6-2, highlighted by many strong individual performances. Quakers interim coach Michael Dowd wants to get off to a strong start in his first match as head coach and is not necessarily concerned with winning or losing so much as being "mentally and physically prepared for every match." Dowd wants the Quakers to work on the details -- "the little things like stretching and eating well. The wins and losses will take care of themselves." He is also concerned with the "revenge factor." In their last meeting two years ago, the Owls defeated Penn in a close 5-4 match. Freshman singles player Anastasia Pozdniakova, currently ranked 17th in the East, reiterates her coach's wishes for a strong start, saying "It's not only a matter of winning, it's a matter of playing well. We want to gain more confidence in our abilities." Dowd emphasized the recent passing of long-time Penn coach Cissie Leary as being tough on the team but emphasized Leary was "such a positive role model" to everyone, something that he will try to build upon. There certainly seems to be an underlying theme to the spring season. The entire team is focused on doing well in the Ivy League, for themselves, but more importantly because it meant so much to Leary. "We don't want to shout about it, but if we do well, it's all for her," Pozdniakova said. Penn enters the season ranked fourth in the Eastern Region and 57th in the nation.
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