W. Tennis tames host Tigers

The Penn women's tennis team opened its Ivy season this past weekend by drubbing its archrival, Princeton.

Penn coach Michael Dowd described the Quakers as being dominant from start to finish.

"The Princeton match was like a Siegfried and Roy show," Dowd said. "We were taming the Tigers."

The Quakers' 7-0 victory was especially impressive since it was played in the rowdy Lenz Tennis Center in Princeton, N. J. Due to the location, the No. 45 Quakers viewed the unranked Tigers as a particularly dangerous opponent.

Penn sophomore captain Sanela Kunovac said that she had heard a lot about raucous Princeton fans, but in the end the fans were irrelevant.

"Everyone on our team was so focused on doing everything right that we didn't really notice their fans," Kunovac said.

In the past five years of Penn-Princeton matches, the home team had a record of 5-0. This streak was shattered with ease as the Quakers won every match except for third doubles, which Princeton took, 8-3.

Sophomore Rachel Shweky, who battled shin splints earlier this season, epitomized the strong play of the Penn squad. In singles she won in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1, and the first doubles team of Shweky and Kunovac won, 8-2.

"This may have been the best match that I have ever seen her play," Dowd said.

The Quakers' top two players, sophomore Alice Pirsu and Kunovac, also reached a milestone in this match. This was the first time that they both posted wins in the same match since Feb. 9, when they took two victories in a 6-1 triumph over Penn State.

Kunovac and Pirsu's stamina was put to the test against the Tigers. They each felt healthy enough to finish three full sets even though they knew that Penn had already won the match.

"It was personal between me and the girl on the other side," Kunovac said. "If she was going to win, I was going to make her earn it."

The Quakers hope that the improved play of Kunovac and Pirsu signals the end of their nagging injuries. Kunovac has a history of knee problems and Pirsu has a sore right elbow. After sitting out the last match against Temple, Pirsu played with caution and served underhand during most of the match.

Dowd said that Kunovac and Pirsu will both be in the Quakers' lineup for the upcoming matches.

"Whether they are 100 percent or not, they get the job done," Penn freshman Kate Williams said.

The Quakers will play away matches against No. 73 Yale and No. 58 Brown this weekend. The members of the Red and Blue think that their lopsided win over Princeton may intimidate their upcoming opponents.

"It is a huge exclamation point to win, 7-0," Williams said. "We made a statement to the other Ivies that we are all business."

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