Penn's Raluca Ciochina had her way Saturday and Sunday against two Virginian teams.
The Penn sophomore swept her matches and went 4-0 in combined singles and doubles action this past weekend.
Penn coach Mike Dowd was especially impressed with her performance.
"Ciochina played very well," he said. "She defeated some tough opponents, and was solid for our team effort."
In a 5-2 Quakers win over Old Dominion, sophomore Caroline Stanislawski and senior Rachel Shweky had impressive individual performances at No. 2 and No. 4 singles, respectively. The two both won their matches in the decisive third set.
Stanislawski had a 6-2, 6-7, 6-2 victory over Kerstin Endlich, and Shweky pulled through with a 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 win over Larissa Santos.
Penn sophomore Sara Schiffman joined the winning trend, beating Maria Martiniez, 6-2, 6-2. The doubles team of Ciochina and senior Nikki Ptak along with the tandem of Stanislawski and junior Kate Williams also recorded victories on the day.
The women's team would face a challenge to its undefeated record against No. 17 William and Mary.
The Quakers got off to a decent start, keeping the Tribe in check for most of the day.
"Nikki Ptak won a big match against William and Mary's number one singles player," Dowd said. Tribe sophomore Megan Muth is "one of best players in country, and it was a big straight-set victory for Nikki."
Ptak was joined by Ciochina, both of whom won their singles and doubles matches Sunday.
The team's fate came down to one match between Shweky and William and Mary sophomore Lingda Yang.
"We were close," Dowd said. "It came down to third set tiebreaker."
The question was whether the Quakers could pull off another clutch victory like they had done last weekend versus the University of Virginia.
However, the Red and Blue were unable to pull through, although Shweky kept the match close in the final tiebreaker, eventually falling, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7.
"Our team played very well versus William and Mary," Dowd said.
William and Mary went all the way to the quarterfinals in the NCAA Tournament last year.
"William and Mary is the best team in the East," Dowd said. "We put up a good fight.
"The way we play our doubles points and singles points shows that we have good things to come."
The Quakers look to get back on the winning track when they face off with local rival Swarthmore Wednesday afternoon at the Levy Tennis Pavilion.
PENN 5, Old Dominion 2 Singles
1 -- Cahana def. Ptak (PENN), 6-0, 6-3
2 -- Stanislawksi (PENN) def. Endlich, 6-2, 6-7, 6-2
3 -- Luiz def. Chao (PENN), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
4 -- Shweky (PENN) def. Santos, 7-6, 2-6, 6-3
5 -- Ciochina (PENN) def. Herrmann, 6-2, 6-1
6 -- Schiffman (PENN) def. Martiniez, 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
1 -- Cahana/Endlich def.
Shweky/Chao (PENN), 8-2
2 -- Ptak/Ciochina (PENN) def.
Santos/Luiz, 8-5
3 -- Williams/Stanislawski (PENN)
def. Kerner/Herrmann, 8-5
William and Mary 4, PENN 3
Singles
1 -- Ptak (PENN) def. Muth; 6-2, 6-2
2 -- Sherbakov def. Stanislawski (PENN); 6-2, 6-1
3 -- Wei def. Chao (PENN); 6-0, 7-6 (3)
4 -- Yang def. Shweky (PENN); 6-4,
4-6, 7-6 (3)
5 -- Ciochina (PENN) def. Mowery;
4-6, 7-5, 6-0
6 -- Guzman def. Jasso (PENN); 7-5, 6-2
Doubles
1 -- Muth/Wei def. Chao/Shweky (PENN), 8-5
2 -- Ciochina/Ptak (PENN) def.
Mowery/Sherbakov, 8-2
3 -- Stanislawski/Williams (PENN) def. de Guzman/Yang; 9-7
