W. Tennis Ivy champs again

The Penn women's tennis team is quickly developing into a dynasty.

With their eyes set on claiming their second straight Ivy League title and duplicating last season's undefeated league record, the Quakers faced the two worst teams in the Ivy League, Cornell (1-6 Ivy League) and Columbia (1-5).

And Penn showed no mercy, destroying Cornell, 6-1, at Lott Courts, before rocking Columbia by the same score in New York City.

The title was theirs.

"These matches weren't as challenging as some of the others that we've played," Penn sophomore Alice Pirsu said, "We were just taking care of business."

In retrospect, it was almost a given that the No. 58 Quakers would repeat as Ivy League champs.

After all, they were entering this past weekend with a 5-0 record, which included key wins against Yale and Harvard.

However, some Quakers stressed that this is a young team that could have stumbled if it wasn't focused.

Before the match against Cornell, sophomore Nicole Ptak emphasized the importance in being the aggressor. ÿ

"Nothing is guaranteed," Ptak said.

With that mindset, the Quakers didn't let the Big Red get close throughout the match.

"We finished the job and closed the doors," Penn coach Michael Dowd said. "We didn't get nervous or choke -- we just grabbed it."

Pirsu, ranked 20th in the nation, had another dominating performance at the No. 1 slot. She finished undefeated in the Ivies, won in straight sets against the Big Red's Suzanne Wright, 6-1, 6-0.

After beating Cornell, the Quakers were guaranteed a share of the title. It would take a win over Columbia to clinch the Ivy crown outright. Sophomore Raluca Ciulei delivered the Quakers the crown in her first season for the Red and Blue, winning the deciding match against Columbia.

The celebration was on.

First up, was the ceremonial dousing of Dowd with a bucket of ice water -- and he enjoyed every bit of it.

"Any time I get a cold beverage poured on me, it is a good thing," Dowd said.

Pirsu was particularly touched by the Quakers' success.

"I wouldn't want to change anyone or anything about this team," Pirsu said.

The next step for the Quakers is the NCAA tournament. Penn is awaiting the May 2 selection show when the team will find out who it will be facing in the first round.

Back to the NCAAs for the second consecutive year, the Quakers are playing down the importance of their first-round matchup.

"It doesn't matter if we will play No. 1 Georgia or the last team that made it," Kunovac said.

After winning back-to-back Ivy championships and maintaining a 14-game Ivy win streak, the Quakers have established themselves as the class of the conference.

And Pirsu thinks Penn will be on top of the league for a while. "We are a young team," Pirsu said, "Over the next two or three years we'll have the same players and we'll only get better."

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