Unbeaten W. Tennis heads to California

Yesterday afternoon, 10 of the 16 members of the Penn women's tennis team left for a week of intense training and matches in California. The Quakers are currently undefeated at 5-0. They recently swept all four opponents at the Penn Conference Classic on February 13. Their victories included a 5-4 win over nationally ranked Richmond. "[Beating Richmond] was very exciting for us," Penn coach Mike Dowd said. The team will divide its time during spring break between Santa Barbara and Newport Beach. The Quakers will compete against University of California-Santa Barbara tomorrow, University of California-Irvine on Tuesday, and Loyola Marymount on Thursday. "They're all very solid teams," Dowd said. "We can and should beat them. We should come out 3-0 but we have to play and see." Penn's first match will be against UCSB at 11 a.m. tomorrow. The Gauchos feature junior Jill Katzenberger, who is ranked fifth in the Intermountain Region. Playing No. 1 singles for UCSB will be freshman Cindy Amman, who was ranked 22nd overall in Switzerland in high school. Amman's tennis resume includes a 6-2, 6-3 loss to Martina Hingis. Irvine also boasts an impressive roster. The Anteaters have been Big West contenders almost every year. The team has been in the conference's top four in eight of the last 14 years. Irvine currently owns a 4-4 record. Less daunting will be the Quakers' match against Loyola Marymount on March 10. The Lions, 4-8 this season, have been struggling. Dowd stresses that the team will be training intensely when they are not competing. "We need to get in the best mental and physical shape we can be in," Dowd said. "We're going to have fun, but we're going to be training hard. We'll be mountain biking, cross-training, maybe wall-climbing. If we do these things, we'll get an edge over our opponents." Freshman Louani Bascara sees the team's trip west as a positive team experience. "It's a great opportunity to play teams we usually wouldn't see," Bascara said. "It will definitely help us with the Ivies." The Quakers will begin playing the Ivy League portion of their schedule after spring break. Their first Ivy match will be against Columbia on March 31.