W. Tennis excited over Penn's upcoming Cissie Leary Invite

Starting this Friday, the Penn women's tennis team -- which ended its spring season with a No. 46 national ranking -- will take on some of the top players on the East Coast when the Quakers host the Cissie Leary Invitational. The tournament, which will kick off Penn's fall season, will take place Friday through Sunday on the Lott Courts. Forty-eight players from 12 schools -- including William and Mary, Georgetown and five other Ivy League schools -- will compete in singles matches, while 24 players will play doubles. "This is a good tournament to get our feet wet in," Penn coach Michael Dowd said. "It's a good opportunity to play some of the best players in the East Coast on our own courts." The first two rounds of matches will take place on Friday. The original draw of 48 will be narrowed down to 16 players who will play again on Saturday, while the finals will be held on Sunday. A consolation round will be held for those players who lose their matches on Friday. Dowd fondly remembers last year's tournament, which was won by then-Penn junior Anastasia Pozdniakova, as one of the team's biggest highlights. "The whole team was there for [Pozdniakova's] final match," sophomore Louani Bascara said. "It was a three-set match against a very tough player and it was some of the greatest tennis I saw all year." Junior Lenka Beranova said she believes the Quakers are well-prepared to kick off their season, noting that the team has been doing extra conditioning, such as running and playing challenge matches in practice, to prepare for the tournament. "I think we're all in good shape and [the tournament] all depends on who's better that day and who's in better shape," Beranova said. After the Cissie Leary Invite, Penn will compete in four other tournaments this season, most notably the ECAC Championships in October. "Last year [when] Anastasia won, it made our team very confident," junior Shubha Srinivasan said. "It's very important for everyone to play well individually because it gives everyone else inspiration to play well." Beranova agrees that the Invitational can be a motivating experience. "If we win, we'll work harder and if we lose we'll work twice as hard," she said. Although Penn will be competing against world-ranked athletes this weekend, Dowd is confident that the team will do well. Last year, the Quakers lost just one match last spring -- to eventual Ivy champ Harvard. Dowd acknowledges the contributions of new tournament director Tiffany Gates, whom he describes as "an amazing addition to our program." Gates was an NCAA qualifier and an All-American at Notre Dame. Both Dowd and Beranova emphasize the importance of fan support at home games and recall the large crowds the team drew in their dual matches last spring. "How hot is women's tennis right now? We have [Martina] Hingis, we have [Anna] Kournikova. It's bigger than men's tennis right now," Dowd said. "Last year we had some face painters at our games. This weekend I will be giving out free T-shirts to the most enthusiastic Penn tennis fans that I notice."