Playing two singles and two doubles matches in 24 hours is a daunting task, but the women's tennis team just sees it as an opportunity for two wins.
The Quakers beat nationally-ranked Marshall 5-2 on Friday afternoon and then woke up early to crush East Tennessee State 6-1 on Saturday.
"This was the first time we have played back-to-back, but that will become the norm," coach Michael Dowd said. "We are in better match shape, and we have to be ready to play a lot of tennis."
"We're certainly tired at the end of the day, but it's nice to have two wins," said freshman Maria Anismova.
The weekend wasn't without a little adversity. Freshman sensation and number-one player Ekaterina Kosminskaya was dealt her first collegiate loss, 6-2, 6-3, by Kellie Schmitt. Schmitt is ranked No. 18 in the country, so the loss was not unexpected, but her teammates were certainly curious to see how Kosminskaya would react.
"Kate had her first college loss on Friday but came back strong," said captain Julia Koulbitskaya of Kosminskaya's 6-2, 6-2 Saturday win over the Buccaneers.
Koulbitskaya and fellow junior captain Yulia Rivelis, on the other hand, are the Quakers' only undefeated singles players.
Koulbitskaya fought to keep that streak alive on Saturday. She dropped the first set to East Tennessee's number-three player Yevgeniya Stupak, 4-6, before winning the second set 6-4 and setting up a tie-breaker third set.
"There is a fine line between playing safe and aggressive in a tiebreaker," Koulbitskaya said.
She found that middle ground and won 11-9.
Penn's only loss on Saturday came when junior Michelle Mitchell dropped the last two sets after a 6-3 win in the first.
"It's very important to win convincingly," Dowd said. "East Tennessee is the best team we have played, and we beat them the worst. When we beat a good team 6-1, it just shows our improvement."
While the Red and Blue have been favorites in all four matches this year, they haven't taken victories for granted.
"We were hoping to be 4-0," Dowd said. "We're better than the teams we've played, but you don't always beat the team you're better than. We've gotten four quality wins."
The Quakers have a tough weekend ahead. They take on 12th-ranked VCU, which ruined Penn's undefeated season last year.
"VCU is always tough. They are like the Russian Fed Cup team," remarked Koulbitskaya.
Though the Rams are heavily favored, coach Dowd and his Quakers aren't ready to concede victory.
"We have high expectations," Anismova said. "If we play our best we can beat anybody."
