W. Tennis sweeps its final Ivy weekend

Wins over Brown and Yale left the Quakers with a 5-2 Ivy record. The women's tennis team doesn't need to sit through The Wizard of Oz to know that there is no place like home. The Quakers unbeaten record at Levi Pavilion and Lott Courts is enough evidence. Penn (14-7, 5-2 Ivy League) closed its season this weekend with two more home wins against Brown and Yale. The Quakers beat the Bears 6-3 Friday and the Elis 7-2 Saturday. The two wins left the Quakers in third place in the Ivy League, a position they will likely keep while other schools finish their season. Harvard is expected to win the conference, and Princeton should come in second. The victory against Brown (8-10, 2-3) was particularly satisfying, since the Bears dominated the Quakers in Providence last year, winning 8-1. Brown has been hurt by injuries this year, but the Penn win doesn't feel any less significant. "It really felt good to beat them after what they did to us last year," sophomore Elana Gold said. "Brooke [Herman] and I lost our first doubles match of the year [Friday], but I played really well in singles against a girl who was one of their top players last year." Gold beat Julia Martynova at No. 5 singles 6-2, 6-3, but she and Herman lost at No. 2 doubles 8-6 to Heather Young and Leela Raju. The Quakers won the other two doubles matches and took three out of the five remaining singles matches. Included in those three wins was senior Lara Afanassiev, who played the last matches of her career this weekend. She won her singles match against Young 6-1, 7-5. "Lara played another huge match at No. 2," Penn coach Michael Dowd said. "Lara's had a great four years. She's been top three singles and top two doubles pretty much the whole time. It'll be a tough loss for us next year." Also graduating is senior Andrea Grossman. Grossman didn't play this year, but she made strong contributions to the Penn program in previous years. No. 3 doubles was played by Afanassiev and junior Karen Ridley, who was making her return after a long layoff due to mononucleosis. Her presence was noticeable, since the Quakers won four out of six doubles matches this weekend in contrast to the usual struggles at those positions. From the looks of the final score, Saturday's match against Yale (8-3, 3-2) was won with even greater ease than the one over the Bears. Every single Quaker win was tightly contested, however. The Quakers won all three singles matches that went three sets. Herman beat freshman Lauren Muehl 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4. freshman. Shubha Srinivasan overcame a heartbreaking second set to pull away 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-0 at No. 6 against sophomore Kirsten Gross. Gold's match at No. 5 clinched the team victory for the Quakers. She defeated junior Naomi Zeff 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. "It really helped me knowing that I could win it for us then," Gold said. "All of my teammates were cheering, which motivated me. We were able to relax and enjoy the doubles matches knowing that we had already won." Penn's goal the whole year was to win the Ivy League championship, but the Quakers lost close matches against the Crimson and Tigers, which placed them out of contention. Despite the loss of Afanassiev, the Quakers should be ready to make another strong run at their first conference championship next year. "We have a lot of depth, and we should have three seniors in the top six next year," Dowd said. "If those seniors stay focused and show good leadership, we should be tough." The Quakers won one more Ivy League match than they did last year. Next year, however, Penn will look to take a cue from its home record this season and finish the conference season undefeated.