Inexperienced W. Tennis fares well at William and Mary Tribe Classic

With only four players returning from last season's Ivy League championship squad, the Penn women's tennis team competed in its first fall-tuneup in the William and Mary Tribe Classic last weekend.

Not knowing what to expect from a squad made up largely of underclassmen in the five-flight tournament, the Quakers hoped they could capture a few matches and perhaps score an upset or two.

The Red and Blue did a lot better than that.

"We really didn't know how the team would perform heading into the tournament," Penn captain Sanela Kunovac said.

"After losing so much talent, we were forced to basically start all over and rely on a lot of younger players... I think we fared really well."

While Kunovac, a sophomore, struggled in match play, many of Penn's newcomers and a returning starter all had strong showings in the highly competitive field.

Sophomore Alice Pirsu, formerly ranked No. 207 on the WTA tour in 1998, entered her first collegiate tournament focused on establishing herself as one of the Quakers' top guns.

Pirsu was not eligible to play last season because of her previous professional experience.

After ripping through the opening rounds of the William flight -- including an upset of No. 13 Janet Bergman of Wake Forest, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 -- Pirsu fell in the semifinals to the eventual top-flight champion, No. 33 Kavitha Krishnamurthy of Princeton, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

"[She] looked really great and at times was dominating," Kunovac said.

Returning sophomore Nicole Ptak, also a semifinalist, swept through the first two rounds of the Green Flight before succumbing to Marshall's Alice Sukner, the flight runner-up, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.

Freshman Michelle Yeh bested the impressive performances by Pirsu and Ptak, reaching the championship round of the Gold flight, before losing a three-setter to Marshall's Joelle Good.

At a critical juncture in the match's decisive third set, Yeh was one point away from victory.

After losing the point, though, the match spun out of Yeh's grasp.

Fellow freshman Kate Williams, however, was able to one-up Yeh, securing the Quakers' lone championship in the tournament with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Marshall's Megan Slasky in the finals of the Tribe Flight.

"Kate played some real good tennis," Kunovac said. "It is a major accomplishment to win a flight in this tournament... especially for a freshman."

Despite the Red and Blue's strong showing in the singles flights, Penn struggled in doubles. Not a single Penn team advanced past the second round.

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