If desire itself could win an Ivy League Championship, the 2005 Penn women's tennis team would be well on its way to its third title.
After practice, most teams hustle off to their respective locker rooms, thankful to have completed another hard session of preparation.
But after a tough practice, on the day before an important match, the women of Penn's tennis team stick around to run a round of wind sprints before beginning a thorough jump-rope conditioning session.
In 1996, when coach Michael Dowd first took over Penn's program, he was young. In fact, at 24 years of age, Dowd was the youngest Division I tennis head coach in the country. He learned the ropes quickly and by 2001 the Quakers captured the first Ivy League title in program history. Not to be outdone, the team promptly repeated their performance the next year -- going 7-0 in league play for the second straight season.
Dowd, now 32, is no longer as young as he used to be. And even though a core of seniors remains from the two Ivy League championship teams, he will have to rely on a trio of freshman -- Julia Koulbitskaya, Yulia Rivelis and Michelle Mitchell -- to help keep afloat any hopes for a successful season.
For the upcoming season, Dowd is looking for big things from every one of his players. With a tough schedule, including a 7-0 loss in the opener against No. 12 Miami this past weekend, he is excited to see how his young talent matches up with the competition. He's also looking for continued consistency and leadership from his older players, especially team tri-captains, Shelah Chao, Sara Schiffman and Kate Williams.
With the loss of a solid senior class, including big names such as Nikki Ptak, Alice Pirsu, Rachel Shweky and Sanela Kunovac, this year's team is much different than last year's.
Although the team will miss the strong presence of these seniors, Dowd is confident that his five freshmen have the talent to fill the gaps.
He continually stresses the importance of teamwork and bonding with a young team. Since many of these players are coming to Penn straight from the individual level of competition, they must make the difficult transition into a team setting.
Dowd accepts smoothing this transition as one of his biggest challenges in coaching tennis at the collegiate level.
Although Penn did not come out on top this weekend against a Division I powerhouse, the team is not worried about the fate of their season. Dowd remains firm in his belief that this 2005 Penn team is the strongest he's had since winning last the Ivy League title in 2002. With the experience of this weekend to build from, the Quakers are even more ready for their upcoming match against Penn State on Feb. 11.
