W. Tennis is all it can be, beats Cadets 9-0

Army women's tennis coach Major Paul Peck could understand why none of his women was winning any of their matches against the Quakers. He figured most of the Penn women had spent their summers honing their serve-and-volley games, while the two Army players on the court closest to him, he pointed out, had been in jump school this past summer leaping out of planes from 10,000 feet in the air. The two players on the next court, he explained, had just finished basic training a few months ago. One of his Cadets had even followed an army lieutenant around Germany during this past school-break in an attempt to learn what it was like to be an officer abroad. He could understand all their losses because their commitments to the military over the summer had not allowed them to get much time to practice. And besides, Army never fares that well against Penn anyway. But what he couldn't comprehend was why, on this day when biting winds were blowing through the courts and the cold would not allow any of the players to get fully loose, the girl who had been to Alaska this past summer for cold-weather survival training was not doing any better than she was. He figured she would have an advantage. It was that kind of day for the Penn women's tennis team, when the opponent had to look for mental edges and moral victories wherever they could take them. Talent spoke for itself, en route to 9-0 Quakers win yesterday at the Lott Courts, where the weather offered more competition than the team they played. "It was very cold out there," said Penn co-captain Lara Afanassiev, who did her part to beat Army in the cold war 6-2, 6-3 over Lillian Lien and her later doubles match with Corin Esterowitz 8-4. "It makes it hard to judge where the ball is going to go." Teammate Julia Feldman, who also won her singles match in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, against Betsy Evans on the strength of a hard serve and brisk ground strokes, agreed with the difficulty of playing in such conditions. "You never know where the ball is going to go," she said. "You can hit it hard and straight, and it might end up out." Feldman also triumphed 8-4 with doubles partner Elana Gold during her second match against Cadets Amanda Settle and Jamie Barker. Philippines native and Penn freshman Rina Borremeo ignored the hint of an East Coast winter. She won convincingly in her singles match, 6-3, 6-4, and then again in her doubles match with partner Anastasia Pozdniakova, 8-2. Pozdniakova won her singles match, 6-1, 7-5 (7-3), against Jen Blatty. Dowd could also celebrate the convincing victory of Borremeo's fellow freshman Shuba Srinivasan, who won, 6-1, 6-1, after taking advantage of the inconsistent returns of Cadet Cheryle Hamilton. The change in weather didn't bother California native Gold either as she won her singles match, 6-2, 6-1, against Elizabeth Scherer. It was Penn's first dual meet of the year, one against an opponent which had already played six times. Dowd was pleased with beating a team that had already played six matches, but was unwilling to place much stock in the dominating nature of the afternoon given Penn's overwhelming success against Army in the past, including a 9-0 whitewash in 1996. Even the weather did not phase Dowd, who looked at the cold winds as a blessing that would later help his team when playing in such cold weather places as Cornell. But as his team fought and won the cold war against Army yesterday afternoon, it seemed appropriate that their coach and leader wouldn't have wanted it any other way.