Penn senior Nicole Ptak's bid to claim her first appearance at the NCAA National Indoor Championships fell just short yesterday in Blacksburg, Va.
Ptak's semifinal defeat at the hands of Maryland's Emily Marker brought about the end of an incredible run through the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Championships.
By falling in the semis, 6-4, 6-3, Ptak failed to claim one of the tournament's two automatic bids to the NCAA Championships in November.
However, Penn women's tennis coach Michael Dowd saw the result as far from disappointing.
In fact, Dowd said that it has been "very gratifying as a coach to see one of your players improve."
Dowd referred to the "tremendous improvement curve" he has seen since Ptak arrived during her freshman year.
After falling last year in the quarterfinals, the round of 16 her sophomore year and the first round as a freshman, Ptak's result was satisfying, though somewhat bittersweet.
"[Marker's] an intense player," Ptak said. "I set up points well but I just made too many errors."
Dowd echoed Ptak's assessment of the match.
Marker's "a very scrappy player," Dowd said. "It was very close. A couple of points here and there made the difference."
Ptak's run was highlighted by a three-set victory over Candace Fuchs, the tournament's No. 1 seed from William and Mary.
After receiving a bye in the first round, Ptak soundly defeated Virginia Tech's Carolyn Kramer and topped Marshall's Lille Nzudie in three sets before meeting up with Fuchs.
Her quarterfinal victory over Virginia's Mariko Fritz-Krockow in the quarterfinals marked the furthest Ptak had ever been in this prestigious tournament.
Though Ptak will not be playing in the upcoming Nationals, she and the rest of the squad now look ahead to the spring season where they hope to take the Ivy Championship back from Harvard.
"Everyone had a great fall," Ptak said. "We have high expectations."
