W. Tennis seniors ready for ITA East Regional Championships

The Penn women's tennis team faces its stiffest competition of the season when it plays host to the representatives of 57 other top college programs this weekend at the Levy Tennis Pavilion. A four-day event, the 1998 Intercollegiate Tennis Association East Regional Women's Tennis Championships will be more than just another tournament, though, for the three Penn seniors who end their final fall season playing on their home courts. "This weekend is very significant for the graduating seniors," junior doubles player Elana Gold said. "It is most likely their last individual tournament ever." Although all the Quakers realize the significance of this tournament for seniors Karen Ridley, Brooke Herman and Julia Feldman, the three captains are trying to approach this weekend as if it was any other tournament. "I'm going to try not to focus on this being the end of my last fall season too much because then I start worrying about results," Herman said. Unfortunately, with the finalists in the singles and doubles brackets earning a bid into the 1999 ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Tennis Championships at Southern Methodist University, the results of this tournament do matter. As hosts, the Quakers will attempt to capitalize on all the little advantages possessed by the home team. They feel that the advantages of playing on their familiar home courts could be enough to push them into the winner's circle. "Indoor courts play a little differently wherever you are," Ridley said. "I think that [the courts at Levy Pavilion] are a little bit faster than some other courts, and the ball takes a weird bounce off the line sometimes. We are also the only players used to the lighting at these courts." Penn also is the only team in the field that has the advantage of their fans and teammates here this weekend to support them and all the players are looking forward to being able to sleep in their own beds rather than an unfamiliar hotel room. The Quaker with the best chance of capitalizing on the home court advantages may be junior singles player and No. 3 seed Anastasia Pozdniakova. Penn is also represented in the doubles bracket by two teams: Ridley and Feldman and Gold and Herman. Coach Michael Dowd feels that it is in the doubles bracket where the Quakers have the best opportunity to do some serious damage. "Because it is only an eight-game pro-set in doubles, if you come out really firing on all cylinders, you always have a chance to beat anybody," Dowd said. This weekend is the pinnacle of the Penn's fall season, and one more opportunity for the seniors to leave their mark on Quakers tennis.