They may not have a perfect record and they may not be No. 1, but the Penn women have never been more confident.
"I feel our chances for a national championship are pretty good," senior and co-captain Paula Pearson said.
One week ago, she may have been less optimistic after Princeton ended the Quakers' bid for an undefeated season and seemingly shattered her hopes of a national title.
But after this weekend's victories over No. 3 Harvard (6-1, 4-1 Ivy) and No. 6 Dartmouth (10-5, 1-4), the scar left by the Tigers has been healed by two dominant performances to close out the regular season.
Against a strong Harvard team on Saturday, the Quakers won 6-3. Although freshman and Penn No. 1 Kristen Lange lost for the third match in a row, No. 2 and classmate Sydney Scott showed poise in fighting back from a first-game hole to win 3-1.
The Red and Blue (8-1, 5-1) have ridden a deep lineup all season long, but after some shaky performances by Scott and Lange, there was some concern about inexperience on a team featuring four freshmen.
Coach Jack Wyant feels those questions have been answered in that key match versus the Crimson.
"They just went out there and played to the best of their ability," he said. "The women weren't awed by the pressure of bouncing back from Princeton or intimidated by the [six-year] losing streak against Harvard."
Since the Quakers will likely play Harvard in the Howe Cup next week, the match undoubtedly provided an additional psychological boost.
"To actually know that we can beat them is a big step for us," Wyant said.
But all was not wrapped up on Saturday. Yesterday, the Quakers had to stay on their toes against No. 6 Dartmouth.
The women did more than enough to win. They shut out the Big Green, 9-0. Not one Penn player even lost a game.
Wyant called the performance "comprehensive."
However, Princeton's win over Harvard on Sunday prevented the Quakers from earning a share of the Ivy League title. They'll finish in second.
Despite the accolades given to his team, the coach still feels like there is room for improvement.
"We played pretty close to our best," he said. "But we still have to clean some things up and get ourselves in the right place for next week."
Mental preparedness should be less of a factor for experienced seniors Pearson, Radhika Ahluwalia and Caitlin Russell.
In between coaching changes, a losing season and transferring (Russell came from Cornell), there's almost nothing they haven't seen.
Wyant credits the team's success to the trio's work ethic - Pearson and Ahluwalia trained all summer - as well as their guidance of the freshmen.
Pearson and her co-captain, Ahluwalia, modestly admit that the rest of the team has looked up to the seniors for leadership. By exceeding expectations set this year, it's clear that they've done something right.
