W. Tennis rookies impress at invite

After trouncing non-conference opponents en route to a 3-1 overall record in the season's first week, the Penn women's tennis team headed to Princeton last weekend to compete in the renowned Princeton Invitational. Eight universities from the region -- Penn, Rutgers, Temple, Yale, Penn State, Brown, Columbia and Princeton -- were invited to send four players each to compete in the annual event held at Princeton's Lenz Tennis Center. While each of the four players competed individually in the singles' tournament, the doubles' bracket featured two doubles teams from each participating school. Penn's entrants, junior co-captain Jolene Sloat and a trio of freshmen standouts -- Sanela Kunovac, Rachel Shweky and Nicole Ptak -- looked at the competition as an opportunity to continue to build upon their early season triumphs. "We were all pretty confident," Sloat said. "Everyone was playing well, and we believed that we had the chance to really go far in the tournament." Sloat, however, did not get a chance to compete due to an injury she suffered before her first match. But anchored by Penn's three freshman phenoms,the Red and Blue rose to the top of a highly competitive playing field. In singles play, No. 1 seed Kunovac reached the championship match before being upset by Penn State second-seed Pilar Montgomery, 6-2, 6-3, early on Sunday morning. Later that afternoon, though, Kunovac avenged her earlier defeat to Montgomery on the doubles court. Penn's No. 3 doubles team of Kunovac and Shweky defeated the top-seeded pair of Rebecca Ho and Montgomery, 8-4, to capture Penn's first championship title in Princeton Invitational history in either the singles or doubles competition. But beyond winning Penn's first title, the victory was sweetened by the fact that the Quakers were able to defeat Montgomery, Penn's arch nemesis in the tournament. Montgomery, a fifth year senior, (after redshirting a season to recuperate from a shoulder injury), not only defeated Kunovac in the singles' final, but furthermore felled Ptak in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, in the singles quarterfinals. Although both Kunovac and Ptak suffered defeats at the hands of the savvy veteran, they differed in their assessments of her tennis ability. Whereas Kunovac, who has a 1-2 lifetime record against Montgomery, praised her as a "very tough opponent... [who] is solid and consistent with her game," Ptak questioned just how good the top-seeded Montgomery is. "I don't think that she is as good as she's put out to be," Ptak said. "She doesn't hit the ball real hard, or use any power at all. I think I tried to do too much against her and wound up beating myself." Penn will have more of an opportunity to evaluate the Nittany Lions senior, as Kunovac will face Montgomery at the top singles spot when the Quakers square off against Penn St. this Saturday. And Kunovac eagerly awaits the challenge. "[Montgomery] is one up on me right now," she said. "This weekend, I will have an opportunity to level it all out." With the success they've had so far, this young Penn squad is eyeing a run at the Ivy League title and an NCAA tournament berth. "If we play our best this season, we have the most potential of any [Penn] squad in recent years," Sloat said. "This year, we can definitely win the Ivy League and advance into the NCAAs."

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