When the women's tennis team finished up its regular season last month, it had as much going for them as any team could hope for.
Caroline Stanislawski had won her last eight matches of the season, including a sweep of Ivy League opponents, and the team was on a three-match winning streak.
The regular season has wrapped up, but now the Quakers will have a chance to carry that momentum into the NCAA Tournament.
The No. 45 Quakers (12-5, 6-1 Ivy) will face No. 30 Tennessee (12-12, 6-5 SEC) in the first round of the tournament today, playing in Atlanta on the campus of Georgia Tech. This marks the fourth tournament appearance in the last six years for Penn. The Quakers are searching for their first tournament win since 2002, when they beat Richmond 4-0 in the first round.
"It's an excitement because it's not on our schedule every year," coach Mike Dowd said.
"It's definitely more exciting [at the tournament]," senior Raluca Ciochina said. "It's a more serious atmosphere, everyone has a chair umpire. It reminds me of international competitions I've played in."
While the Quakers have not faced Tennessee recently, they are feeling confident about their chances of coming out of the first round victorious. Dowd feels that Ivy League matches are great practice for the intensity at the tournament.
"It's a team we typically don't see -- they're not in our conference, not in our region," Dowd said. "I'm not quite sure what to expect, to be honest."
Penn last played Tennessee in 1987, beating the Lady Vols 7-2.
This year, the Quakers have played a quality schedule and beaten teams of the caliber of their first-round opponent. They competed against nine ranked teams this season and have impressive victories over No. 38 Arizona and No. 26 Virginia.
"We're confident that we can do something this tournament," Dowd said.
Penn played against eight squads that made the tournament this year, with a record of 2-5 -- and one unfinished match -- against those teams.
"We've beaten teams in the top 30, top 40," sophomore Julia Koulbitskaya said. "We have a lot of optimism, we match up pretty well."
Tennessee does sport a nationally ranked doubles team, but neither team has a nationally ranked singles player. Melissa Schaub and Ghizela Schutte compose the No. 52 doubles team.
But this shouldn't give the Lady Vols too much of an advantage -- a team must win two of three doubles matches to earn just one point.
Penn may be ranked below its first-round opponent, but the team shouldn't be an easy out. Tennessee has shown a tendency to lose to lower-ranked opponents, including No. 52 Mississippi and No. 42 Indiana.
Of course, the Quakers shouldn't read too much into the Lady Vols' .500 record, as Tennessee plays against superior competition in the Southeastern Conference. However, they did beat two higher-ranked opponents this season: No. 18 Texas and No. 25 Georgia.
The Quakers have increased the intensity of their practices since learning they would be going to Atlanta, practicing twice a day and working more intensely on conditioning exercises.
"We stepped up our practices. [They are] definitely tougher than during the school year," Ciochina said.
If the Quakers win, they will play against the winner of the match between No. 6 Georgia Tech and Southeast Louisiana.
Regardless of the outcome, this will be the last event for the seniors on the squad: Ciochina and Stanislawski.
"It's lovely that I can spend my last week at Penn with the people I like the most," Ciochina said.
