The No. 39 Penn women's tennis team faced a series of tests this weekend, and grinded out a pair of 4-3 nailbiters to pull past ranked opponents on the road.
Senior Nikky Ptak had both sweet revenge and dominating form against No. 51 Maryland and No. 31 Virginia Commonwealth this weekend.
Penn coach Mike Dowd was full of praise for his players and their consistent and dominating play.
"Nikky Ptak beat two nationally ranked players at the one spot," Dowd said.
"She's just whipping the ball, destroying nationally ranked players."
Ptak, who is ranked 75th in the nation, had two impressive straight-set victories versus No. 56 Emily Marker of Maryland, and No. 36 Olga Borisova of VCU.
Ptak had lost to Marker in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regionals in the fall, and this victory was all too sweet.
"It was nice to beat her this time around," she said. "I'm playing really well, I'm playing the best tennis of my career."
The Quakers, however, had to go down to the wire, with another deciding final match at stake. This time Penn junior Raluca Ciochina was at the helm and came through in the clutch.
"It was the first time I played a deciding match," Ciochina said. "I was happy that I was able to finish it well. I'm looking forward to playing more deciding matches in the future."
Ciochina also recognized the great efforts by her teammates, showing the solidarity of their cause.
"The team played really well," she continued. "I have to mention [sophomore] Sara Schiffman and Nikky Ptak, they both won their singles, and they are important assets to team."
Penn have begun to form a rivalry with the Terrapins, after playing them in each of the past three years.
VCU is another tough opponent the Red and Blue have faced in recent years. The Rams were ranked as high as 14th in the nation this season.
"VCU has been a nationally ranked team," Dowd said. "We lost to them last year, it was nice to finally beat them."
VCU only had five players, so the Quakers had a point secured by default at No. 6 singles before the match began.
Penn dropped the doubles point, but rallied in singles play to ensure the victory. Ptak, Schiffman and junior Shelah Chao all won their matches in straight sets.
"The efforts of Nikky Ptak and Sara Schiffman were the difference in the victory over VCU," Dowd said.
The Quakers will head out to Texas over spring break, with road matches against No. 17 Texas A&M;, Houston, Texas and Rice.
