W. Tennis ready for conference foes

After thrashing Princeton, last season's Ivy League champions, in its first Ancient Eight match of the year Saturday, the Penn women's tennis team (10-6) looked to follow up its 6-1 win the next day by capturing a big non-conference victory against then-No. 53 Virginia Commonwealth. Having already fallen this season to nationally ranked opponents Tulane, Virginia and Penn State, this was the Quakers' final shot to score an upset over a highly touted non-conference foe. But with a 6-1 dismantling at the hands of the Rams, Penn's hopes of a dramatic triumph were dashed. "We had an emotional letdown," Penn freshman No.1 singles Sanela Kunovac said. "We had been anticipating the Princeton match all season and then after winning, we weren't ready to compete the next day." With only Ivy League matches remaining on its schedule, the Quakers' only chance to defeat an opponent outside of the Ancient Eight would come if they captured the conference title and advanced to the NCAA tournament. Looking to rebound from the VCU defeat, the Red and Blue return to Ivy League play this weekend, taking on No. 67 Yale (9-5) and Brown (6-7) at Levy Tennis Pavilion. Although they finished in the Ancient Eight cellar last season with an 0-7 conference record, the Bears have played well in the early portion of the season, triumphing over Pacific and losing narrowly to then-No. 59 Cal State Northridge. Yale has surged to its national ranking, as the Elis have defeated No. 59 Boston College, No. 75 Wisconsin and lost only 4-3 to No. 71 Cal-Irvine. Demonstrating the cavalier attitude that has been customary of the young Quakers, Penn has little fear of the competitive Brown squad or the ranked Elis. "Brown is fortunate they have played some teams with top rankings," Penn No. 6 singles player Rachel Shweky said. "They're going to need firepower to play with us." "Yale is good on paper," Shweky added. "But, if we go into the match thinking we are the better team, with the same attitude as we had against Princeton, we can dominate them." Kunovac owns a 1-0 advantage lifetime against her upcoming Yale opponent, Amanda Goldberg. The star freshman defeated Goldberg by a convincing 6-1, 6-0 margin on November 15. "I played one of my best matches against [Goldberg]," Kunovac said. "She is a very tough opponent. If I give her a chance to win, it will be a very tough match for me." With a victory over Princeton already under its belt, it appears as if Penn might be ready to embark on the path towards the Ivy League crown it predicted it would win at the beginning of the season. "Beating Princeton was a huge confidence booster," Shweky said . "It was great to dethrone the conference champions. "As long as we keep going on this path, we will succeed in our mission and have Penn finally win an Ivy League championship."

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