Srinivasan shines for W. Tennis in Ohio

At the Ohio State Invitational this past weekend Shubha Srinivasan of the Penn women's tennis team showed that her newfound confidence could be the key ingredient in raising her game to the next level. Playing in the fifth flight of the seven flight singles tournament, Srinivasan reached the semifinals before falling in 3 1/2 hours -- 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5) -- to Julia Sidorvova from Kansas. "I think everyone did very well, but I think Shubha Srinivasan did especially well," coach Michael Dowd said. "She almost pulled out a very tough match in the semis." Srinivasan has been gaining confidence little by little throughout the year. Her quarterfinal performance in the Penn State Invitational two weekends ago gave her added confidence for this trip to Columbus. Srinivasan's change in attitude has not gone unnoticed by her Quaker teammates. "She fought for every point. I was impressed with her mental toughness during the long three set match," captain Brooke Herman said. "It was late at night, but she was able to stay tough the whole match." Although she was unable to pull out the victory, Srinivasan's play provided a boost to the rest of the team. "I think she played so tough," freshman Jolene Sloat said. "I really look up to her. Even though she lost, she gave everything that she had." The Quakers knew that they were playing at a higher level of tennis when they saw the names of their competition. Institutions like Notre Dame, Kansas and Georgia Tech are teams that are ranked nationally on a regular basis, something the Quakers have yet to achieve. Those schools are endowed with the resources to bring in the best players around the country that Penn does not have available to them, such as scholarships and state-of-the-art athletic facilities. Despite the disparity between teams, the Quakers had impressive results at the Invitational. Anastasia Pozdniakova, Penn's number one singles player, recovered quickly after losing her first-round match to Becky Varnum of Notre Dame 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the No. 1 flight to reach the finals of the consolation bracket. Sloat also reached the finals of the number six bracket, but lost 7-5, 6-1 in the finals to Georgia Tech's Autumn Richards. Sloat is another Quaker player benefiting from playing against higher quality tennis players on a regular basis. "I am playing against a level of competition that I have never played before in juniors," Sloat said. "It is really helping my game improve." Penn dominated the No. 7 bracket with freshman Louani Bascara defeating fellow Quaker Elana Gold in the finals 6-4, 6-2. Bascara credited the tough Quaker practice for helping her win her bracket. "The weeks of practice we have had prepared me very well," Bascara said. "They have all been extremely intense and demanding." Although many of the Quakers' weaknesses that are more easily covered up against weaker competition were exposed this weekend, the team left Columbus feeling good about its performance and everything they had accomplished. "This tournament just gave us so much confidence," Herman said. "We are just as good as the nationally ranked teams. We should feel like we can play with the best players in the country."