Spring break brought a series of ups and downs for the Penn women's tennis team. The team achieved the ranking of No. 28 in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll, the highest ranking in program history. To top it off, Penn had a match yesterday against crosstown rival Temple.
When all was said and done, the Quakers came away with two victories over Houston and Temple, two losses to No. 16 Texas A&M; and No. 10 Texas and a tie with No. 56 Rice. Penn coach Michael Dowd was impressed with his team despite the losses.
"It was a great match," Dowd said, commenting on the Quakers' 4-2 loss to the Aggies. "We played them under the lights, in the great Texas environment, and just came up a couple games short."
The team rebounded with a victory over Houston, 7-0.
"It was a great win versus Houston," Dowd said. "We pulled out a lot of close matches, a lot of three-setters, we played very well under the windy conditions."
The dominating final score in Penn's favor does not do justice to the close games the Quakers had to pull out against the Cougars.
"We all played well," Penn senior Nikky Ptak said. "I was actually down, 5-2, 15-40, in the third set. Fortunately, I was able to pull off the victory."
The crew switched gears to play its highest-ranked opponent of the season -- Texas.
"Everyone fought really hard," sophomore Caroline Stanislawski said. "We had our chances, a couple matches went three sets.
"It was a bit of a disappointment in that sense, could have won it, but I'm very proud of everyone, we fought really hard. We're really preparing ourselves for the Ivy League season."
The Quakers would lose to the Longhorns, 5-2, but had something to prove with their relatively strong showing versus a ranked opponent.
"We all had chances on every court," Ptak said. "It shows we have potential and can compete with some top teams."
The Red and Blue had a very tight schedule, as evidenced by the bizarre finish to their match against another Texas opponent, Rice.
"It was suspended because of rain," Dowd explained. "We started the match much later than expected, and we had a flight to catch."
When the match prematurely ended, the final tally was 2-2. This score reflected some great singles play, but the rain might have been a blessing for the Quakers.
The team was down in two of the games that were stopped before completion. A potential upset was averted.
"I only got to see half of the team," Ptak said. "It would have been nice to play them in a full match, they're a top team."
The final nonconference game for the Quakers was against Temple yesterday.
Penn junior Shelah Chao pulled off one of the most exciting three- set victories in the second-to-last match to be played, as the Quakers topped the Owls, 6-1.
"It was just great knowing I pulled it out," Chao said. "We're all getting ready for the Ivy League season.
"I saw Michael Dowd watching me and I knew I had to pull out a win for the coach," Chao continued. "I was able to get a good win in singles before the Ivy League season starts, that's when our most important matches come up."
