The Penn women's tennis team will play Richmond (12-9) in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The match will be held on May 10 at Duke University in Durham, NC.
The Quakers (14-5) have completed their second straight undefeated Ivy season and are making their return to the NCAA Tournament. Last season, Penn---then-ranked No. 68 in the nation -- upset No.19 Pepperdine in the first round, before falling to site host Baylor in the next round.
With hopes of duplicating their first round success of last season and extending their current eight-game win streak, the Quakers come in as the favorites against the Spiders. Richmond has yet to defeat a ranked team this season --- Penn is currently ranked No. 56 --- and boasts no ranked players. The Quakers, meanwhile, boast one ranked player,Alice Pirsu, who is the No. 24 singles' player in the country.
Penn is confident it has what it takes to win.
"We are the favorites," Penn coach Michael Dowd said. "Based on this matchup it is clear that the NCAA thinks that we are a top-32 team."
And this is a top-32 team that comes into its first round match well- rested.
"Everyone is now healthy and finished with exams," Dowd said, "We are expecting to play some good tennis."
The winner of the Penn/Richmond match will meet the winner of the Duke/University of Maryland Baltimore County match in the round of 32.
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