Afanassiev bids farewell to Lott

The last weekend of the Ivy League season takes on greater importance than usual for the Penn women's tennis team. Their home matches against Brown and Yale, in addition to closing out the season, will also be the farewell appearances of Penn's senior co-captain and leader, Lara Afanassiev. Afanassiev and the Quakers (11-7, 3-2 Ivy League) will take the court for the last times this spring when they host the Bears (9-8, 1-3) Friday at 2 p.m. and the Elis (7-2, 2-1) Saturday at noon. Despite hints of nostalgia in her words, Afanassiev still possesses the fiery competitiveness that has made her one of Penn's best. "Although I'm sad about my senior season coming to an end, I still want to go out on a high note,"Afanassiev said. According to Penn coach Michael Dowd, Afanassiev has been leading the team all week in practice and is eager to give the fans something to cheer about on the court this weekend. "Lara is treasuring every moment she has left on the tennis court," Dowd said. "She is especially glad that her last matches will be at home. Lara has played great tennis all year, and we're very lucky to have her." Afanassiev will have extra incentive to perform well in her last two matches. This weekend brings with it the return of her longtime doubles partner, junior Karen Ridley, who has missed most of the season due to a bout of mononucleosis. Ridley played extremely well against Brown and Yale last season. At Brown last spring, she and Afanassiev scored the only victory for the Red and Blue, as Penn lost by a count of 8-1 to the eventual Ivy League champions. At Yale, in one of Penn's few singles triumphs, Ridley defeated Sara Naison-Phillips in an intense third-set tie-breaker, propelling Penn to a 5-4 win. "We've rearranged some of our doubles teams throughout the year," Ridley said. "But I'm anxious to get back out there, and Lara and I are definitely ready to play this weekend." Dowd also expects impressive match play from sophomores Anastasi Pozdniakova and Elana Gold, as well as from junior Julia Feldman. In particular, Dowd commended Gold, saying that she has played and practiced excellently all year. Her outstanding efforts, Dowd claims, have often gone unnoticed, and she has not been given her due acclaim. Both coach and players feel that a key factor in their matches this weekend will be crowd support from Penn fans. The Red and Blue is undefeated at home this year and expects its success to continue. This attitude was emphasized by Gold. "We need a lot of fan support for our last home match," Gold said. "Playing at home should be a huge advantage for us." Dowd reiterated this belief, stating that the crowd for the matches should be great despite the simultaneous occurrence of Spring Fling. "Even though Fling is going on," Dowd said, "I expect a lot of people out there, because they will be glad to see such excitement." With the challenge of Ivy League competition, the return of Ridley and, most of all, the curtain call of Afanassiev, this weekend promises to be a memorable one for the Red and Blue.