For the first time in the seven-year history of the Cissie Leary Invitational, the tournament saw a repeat champion.
Tulane sophomore Julie Smekodub defeated Harvard's Courtney Bergman 6-2, 7-5, in Sunday's final. Smekodub's victory came at the expense of No. 1 seed and Penn senior, Alice Pirsu.
Pirsu, the highest ranked player in the field at No. 12 nationally was awarded the memorial tournament's top seed despite a draw that included three former champions.
Her quest to become the first Penn athlete to win the Quakers' Cissie Leary Invitational was cut short by Smekodub, in the semifinals, 6-2, 6-3.
Penn senior Nicole Ptak, who advanced to the round of 16, remarked that Smekodub essentially played flawless tennis throughout the tournament.
"Julie played well," Ptak said. "She didn't hit any errors."
Ptak played extremely well herself in her first two matches -- cruising over her opponents in straight sets before falling in the round of 16.
Though the invitational is an individual competition, Penn's overall result bodes positively for the team.
Six Quakers advanced as far as the round of 16 in the main draw of the singles bracket.
Joining semifinalists Pirsu and Ptak were sophomores Raluca Ciochina and Caroline Stanislawski, senior Rachel Shweky and junior Shelah Chao.
Chao advanced to the quarterfinals before falling, like Pirsu, to Smekodub.
Stanislawski thought the Quakers' overall performance was very solid.
"I feel that we had an amazing showing," the sophomore said. "It was not surprising since we've been working really hard."
The tournament featured a talented field of athletes, including four of the top 25 singles players in the country.
The Quakers -- 2001 and 2002 Ivy League Champions -- were joined in the field of 12 teams by athletes from Ivy rivals Columbia, Harvard and Princeton.
Ptak and the rest of the Quakers hope to build on this impressive season opener.
"Everyone gave a pretty solid performance," Ptak said.
The Red and Blue will return to action this weekend at the three-day Columbia Invitational, beginning Friday in New York.
The Quakers did not compete in the Columbia Invitational last season.
Columbia is coming off a strong performance at the Princeton Invitational this weekend, in which the Lions' Christine Kim and Melissa Nguyen competed in the "A" Flight finals.
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