W. Tennis splits in last weekend of play

The Quakers lost to Brown, but eked out a win over the Elis. Voorhees, N.J. The Bears have not lost a match all season and are on their way to winning the Ivy title. They were determined to continue on their winning path against Penn. The Quakers were prepared for the challenge, but Brown didn't give in. "It was a very tight match, even though it was 8-1," Penn sophomore Julia Feldman said. "We all had very close matches. Personally, I got off to a slow start, and it was really hard to get back into it. They were just on, and sometimes there's nothing you can do. We did the best we could." The Bears dominated the singles play, winning all six matches. At that point, even if Penn swept the doubles, it was impossible for the Quakers to hand Brown its first defeat. But the No. 2 doubles team of sophomore Karen Ridley and senior co-captain Lara Afanassiev earned Penn's only point of the day by defeating their opponents, 8-6. "We really wanted to win, like everyone else, but we were really focussed and really intense," Ridley said. The results on April 19 were much more positive for Penn. When the Quakers met the Elis last year, the match came down to the last point, so they knew Yale was not to be taken any more lightly than was Brown. "We wanted to end the season on a positive note and with a winning match," Ridley said. And that they did. After Anastasia Pozdniakova, Ridley and Alana Gold secured wins at the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 6 spots, respectively, Penn and the Elis fought for the overall win in doubles action. The Quakers were ready, for this was not the first time this season pressure was placed on them to dominate the doubles matches after splitting the singles. Sophomore Brooke Herman and Pozdniakova came out on top in the third slot, and when Gold and Feldman won their match at the No. 1 spot, Penn's victory was secured. "We were tougher than them," Feldman said. "It was a great feeling to win." Although the regular season is now over, the Quakers must continue to train in case they are one of the eight teams to qualify, based on overall record, for the NCAA Eastern Regionals to be held May 2 and 3 in Syracuse. They will not know if they will be competing until after next weekend, which is the conclusion of every remaining team's season. But, the pressure is off of Penn now -- all the Quakers can do now is practice and wait.

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