W. Tennis soars into Ivy lead

(Penn - 4, Yale - 3) (Penn - 7, Brown - 0)

Entering this past weekend's matches, the Penn women's tennis team exuded confidence.

"We are better than Yale and Brown at every position," Penn coach Michael Dowd said before the games.

And ultimately, No. 46 Penn was better than its fellow-ranked Ivy foes, edging Yale, 4-3, before crushing the Bears, 7-0.

But though the No. 46 Quakers may have felt superior, they did not look it in the opening stages of their match against Yale in New Haven, Conn.

"For anyone who watched the beginning of the match, it looked like we didn't belong on the court," Penn sophomore captain Sanela Kunovac said.

The Elis -- ranked No. 75 in the nation -- started off by winning the doubles' point and had the Quakers on the ropes by taking a strong lead in three singles matches.

But Penn remained poised.

Despite a first set loss, sophomore No.1 Alice Pirsu -- ranked 17th in the country -- won her next two sets, 6-1, 6-4. Similarly, sophomore Nicole Ptak rebounded from a 2-6 first-set loss to win consecutive sets, 7-5, 6-3.

Sophomore Rachel Shweky and junior Raluca Ciulei tacked on the other two singles' victories for a 4-3 Penn win.

Not a bad way to kick off a pivotal Ivy weekend.

"When we play against Ivy League teams, every point is do or die," sophomore Rachel Shweky said, "If we lose one match, the Ivy title is out of our hands."

Adding to the pressure is the Quakers' national-ranking -- tops in the Ivies.

"Other teams are looser when they challenge us," Pirsu said, "All the pressure is on us as the better ranked team."

After a tight win against the Elis, the Quakers realized that No. 70 Brown would, too, be gunning for them.

But this time, Penn was prepared to provide the counter-punch -- fired up by its late-match heroics in New Haven.

"Going into Brown we were really hyper and pumped up," Kunovac said.

The score was indicative of the Quakers' energy as they pummeled the Bears, 7-0. In addition to the six singles victories, the Red and Blue won all three doubles matches.

Penn would like to think it was more its own skill -- rather than Brown's deficiencies -- that accounted for the blowout.

"Brown was a much better team than we made them look," Kunovac said.

The Bears had a sterling 9-1 record prior to Saturday's match -- including a 4-3 win over Princeton -- and made the Quakers work for their points. All three of the top singles matches were forced to a third set.

As upcoming matches against Harvard and Dartmouth near, the Quakers are peaking. They have a four-game win streak, a 3-0 Ivy record and top players Pirsu and Kunovac are overcoming their respective injuries.

"At this point in the season, any pain I feel is in the back of my mind," Kunovac said."There is so much excitement and adrenaline that I could have a broken leg and I'd only notice it afterwards."

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