From the WTA tour to the W. Tennis courts

Last year, Alice Pirsu could only sit back and watch her teammates in their pursuit of Ivy League dominance.

Because of NCAA rules restricting professionals from collegiate athletics, Pirsu was forced to bypass her freshman season to prove her status as an amateur.

Now, only two months into her sophomore year, Pirsu is one of Penn's top two singles players.

"It's a feeling of total frustration to have to sit out, especially when you know you can help the team," Pirsu said. "Fortunately now I can go out and contribute every time."

The hard-hitting Romanian native arrived at Penn last year after competing on the WTA tour, reaching as high as No. 207 in the individual world rankings.

However, Pirsu is very happy to call Penn her home now.

"There's pressure, but a challenge is what I'm looking for," Pirsu said. "It's so much fun to play tennis at Penn and I'm glad I can do it all."

Pirsu leads the Quakers with high expectations this weekend's elite ITA Eastern Regional Championships. The tournament will take place at Penn's Levy Tennis Center from Friday until next Tuesday.

This weekend's ITA Regionals, however, hold more weight than Penn's other tournaments this fall.

The ITA finalists will earn a trip to the Omni Hotels National Indoor Championships held at Southern Methodist University from Nov. 8-11. There are seven other regional championships being held throughout the country that will also feed the 32-woman national championship field at SMU.

"My goal is to get to the finals, because my goal has been to get to the Indoors," Pirsu said.

Yet for Penn, ITAs not only marks the chance to send a team member to the national championships, but also rests as the team's final match of what has been, thus far, a very successful fall. The Quakers placed second in the ECACs last weekend and have advanced players far in individual tournaments throughout the season.

"It motivates us to win more, because we know that once we're done, we're done for the fall," Penn sophomore Rachel Schweky said.

"We are hoping to get as many players as possible through [the tournament]," Penn captain Sanela Kunovac said. "It's basically an individual effort, but you're always competing for the team."

Whether Kunovac will compete herself remains in question. The Penn sophomore is still recovering from an injured knee that forced her out of singles action in the ECAC championships two weeks ago.

Kunovac abstained from practice during the beginning of this week and will wait for a definitive word from the doctor as to whether she will be able to compete. Right now she's sees herself having a "50-50" chance of playing.

If nothing else, this weekend will serve as ammunition for the Quakers to begin defense on last year's Ivy League Championship and a return trip to the NCAA tournament.

"We hope this will be material for the spring season," Kunovac said.

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