In its second weekend of Ivy play, the Penn women's tennis team faces opponents at two ends of the spectrum Yale (5-8, 1-0 Ivy) has butted heads with a number of national powerhouses; Brown (9-5, 0-1 Ivy) is a middling team with a schedule softer than a Tempur-pedic.
Still, when the two met last weekend in New Haven, Conn., for each team's Ivy opener, Brown almost caught the Bulldogs napping before falling, 4-3 - proof that focus is more important than talent.
Against Yale today, the No. 63 Quakers must be vigilant from the start, as the first doubles team of Lauren Ritz and Lindsay Clark will likely be the most dangerous opposition the Quakers face all weekend.
Though the No. 27 Penn doubles team of Julia Koulbitskaya and Ekaterina Kosminskaya has never faced the Yale pair as a tandem, Koulbitskaya has previously faced Ritz and Clark and should be familiar with their style.
As in all of Penn's previous matches, the doubles point will set the tone.
"It's important for us to get out to a good start," senior co-captain Michelle Mitchell said.
"Building from last week against Princeton, where we started a little slow, we need to be striking the ball well from the beginning. We got down early [then], but it's tough to come back and win twice in a row."
Tomorrow, Penn (6-6, 1-0) faces the Bears at Providence, R.I. Though the Quakers seem to be a cut above Brown, they are 0-2 during the spring season in the second half of back-to-back matches, raising questions about conditioning and stamina.
But the team maintains that fitness is not an issue.
"Matches give you the best conditioning," co-captain Yulia Rivelis said, "and we've been in a lot of matches - we're ready for this."
Brown has already proved last weekend that it could capitalize on lapses in effort - the Bears' first doubles team, freshman duo Marisa Schonfeld and Bianca Aboubakare, upended the more talented Yale team of Clark and Ritz 8-3. But as long as the Quakers remain focused, they should capture the win.
On paper, the ranked Quakers are stronger than both of their opponents. However, coach Michael Dowd insists the number 63 next to the school's name means nothing.
"Rankings are not indicative of what happens - who's gonna win, who's gonna finish on top and who's going to win the Ivy championship."
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