Penn squeezes the juice out of Syracuse

Predicting a close match with Syracuse and a win against Cornell, the Penn women's tennis team left New York this weekend with very different results from its original expectations. After defeating the Orangewomen at the Drumlins Tennis Club by a score of 7-2, the Quakers lost to the Big Red 5-4, making their overall record 14-5, and their Ivy League record even at 1-1. Prior to meeting Syracuse on Friday, Penn coach Michael Dowd said he predicted a close match based on the results against the Orangewomen in the fall, when the Quakers won 5-3 in doubles play after splitting the singles matches at three all. Only one alteration was made to Penn's usual singles lineup, as sophomore Yukie Tokuda played in the No. 6 singles spot. Also, in the No. 3 doubles position, freshman Ali Lacika replaced freshman Anastasia Pozdniakova. Two of the Orangewomen's top players were not able to compete because of injuries. As a result, the Quakers were victorious in seven of the nine matches played. The only two losses handed to Penn by Syracuse came courtesy of No. 1 singles player Elizabeth Cascarilla, as she defeated Pozdniakova in the third set, and by the No. 1 doubles team of Cascarilla and Miki Kanemitsu. "We concentrated really well," Penn senior co-captain Lara Afanassiev said. "We didn't let down." Penn did not fare as well against Cornell, as the Quakers were only able to capture two wins in singles play, followed by two victories in doubles competition. "It was a really disappointing loss," Afanassiev said. "We knew Cornell was a good team, but I think we didn't realize how good they are. We just didn't have it." After Pozdniakova won her match in the third set at the No. 1 singles position and sophomore Karen Ridley defeated her opponent at the No. 3 spot, the Quakers needed to win all three doubles matches to be victorious. Afanassiev and Ridley won the No. 2 doubles competition, while Pozdniakova and sophomore Brooke Herman came out on top at the No. 3 slot. However, Penn was not able to hold on to the win at the No. 1 spot, as Cornell won by a score of 8-3. The Quakers now look ahead to tomorrow when they will take on Columbia at home at 2:00 p.m. The match was originally set for April 26, but was pushed forward. The Red and Blue hope to avoid repeating the same mistake of underestimating the Lions as they did with Cornell. "They're another team like Cornell," Afanassiev said. "We can't overlook Columbia."