W. Tennis splits singles matches but drops Ivy opener to Tigers

Even though the Penn women's tennis team started off its match at Princeton on Saturday by winning half of its singles matches -- knotting the match score at three-all -- the Quakers were overpowered when it came to doubles and lost their first Ivy match of the season, 6-3. Penn coach Michael Dowd believes that despite the unimpressive score, the Quakers played a tough match and that Princeton is simply a tougher team. "Princeton's team's strength is their power and their size. Physically, they're very big and strong," Dowd said. "It was tough for our team to handle. We play with more finesse, and our serves aren't quite as strong." At No. 1 singles, Penn junior Lenka Beranova fell, 6-4, 6-3, to Princeton freshman Kavita Krishnamurthy -- who is currently ranked No. 20 in the nation. Penn collected its three total points with singles wins from senior co-captain Anastasia Pozdniakova and sophomores Rochelle Raiss and Jolene Sloat. Pozdniakova took the Tigers' Jyotsna Vasisht, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 3 singles, and Sloat overcame Priya Bhupathi by the same score. At No. 6 singles, Princeton's Kristy Watson gave Raiss a little too much trouble. In the first set, Watson consistently put away winning shots and had little trouble, taking the set, 6-0, before Raiss adjusted to her opponent's style. "I knew she couldn't keep it up," Raiss said. "I tried to change the momentum and keep as many balls in as I could." Raiss came back and took the second set, 6-4, but her winning streak faded quickly, and she was soon down 2-5 in the third set. She eventually pulled off a win, taking the third set, 7-6. Raiss noted the role that team closeness played in her victory, claiming she probably would not have won the match if her teammates had not been cheering her on. Penn senior co-captain Elana Gold believes Princeton began playing their doubles with increasing aggression after the singles matches brought the score to three-all, while the Quakers seemed timid when it came to making points. "They were much more aggressive than we were," Gold said. "We were tentative, and they always got to the net first." At No. 1 doubles, the Tigers' Amanda Hastings-Phillips and Gailor Large had their way with Beranova and Raiss and took the match, 8-3. "They were all over the net," Raiss said. "We played way too defensive, and we let them control it too much." Gold, who paired up with Penn junior Shubha Srinivasan at No. 2 doubles, also noted that the Tigers' attacks at the net were a recurring problem. "They always got to the net first," Gold said. "We played a little more conservatively, and it hurt us in the end." Also falling in doubles were Penn's Pozdniakova and Louani Bascara, who slipped, 8-2, to Krishnamurthy and Bhupathi. Last year, Penn kicked off its Ivy season by edging the Tigers, 5-4. Gold believes that Princeton is a tougher team than they were last year, and noted that the addition of phenom Krishnamurthy and the fact that Princeton's team lost no players to graduation last year, "made a big difference." Though the Quakers are disappointed about losing their first Ivy match of the season, Saturday's loss does not erase the possibility of an Ivy title "It's still very early," Gold said. "We're still hoping to give it a run. We'll just have to hope that Princeton loses."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.