Freshman Yulia Rivelis captured both the crowd and a victory in the No. 1 singles position against Princeton's Jessica Siebel on Saturday.
Despite Rivelis' efforts, Princeton improved to 7-6 on the season with a 5-2 win over Penn in the Ivy League opener for both teams.
Although the day ended on a sour note for the Quakers (6-5, 0-1 Ivy), Rivelis never took her mind off of a victory. After losing her first set, 6-2, Rivelis simply refused to lose. With a lively crowd of friends and family on her side, she won the next two sets 7-5, 6-1.
"You just have to get through certain matches. That extra ball you hit back really pays off," Rivelis said after her exciting, come-from-behind victory. "I have learned that you have to find a way to win without changing your own game plan or style."
But her performance was one of few highlights for the Quakers on Saturday.
They went into the match against the rival Tigers (7-6, 1-0) feeling confident after swallowing Temple whole last weekend with an impressive 7-0 victory. Earlier in the season, Princeton managed only to squeak by the same Temple squad with a 4-3 win.
Penn's confidence misled them, as they opened the match by giving up the doubles point. Captain Kate Williams and Caroline Stanislawski won the only doubles match of the day for the Quakers at the No. 3 position.
Frustration continued to be the theme of the day in singles action, as the Tigers earned four of the six singles points. Penn captain Shelah Chao played one of the toughest matches of the day at the No. 4 position against Princeton's Allison Hashmall.
Hashmall physically overpowered the much smaller Chao with her strong strokes in the first set of the match, winning 6-4. Chao came back with a vengeance in the second set though, using her speed and athleticism to turn the tables and defeat Hashmall, 6-1. A disappointing third set favored Hashmall, 6-1, as her power finally overcame Chao's speed.
Stanislawski earned the only other win of the day for the Quakers, defeating Princeton's Joanna Roth in three sets.
The Quakers are eager to put the loss to Princeton behind them and look forward to hosting Yale in their next Ivy League match Friday at 2 p.m.
