Two years ago, the pair of then-freshmen Ekaterina Kosminskaya and Maria Anisimova were the first doubles team in Penn women's tennis history to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
Last year, the two were not paired together, but this season, they will reunite and try to outdo their freshmen selves.
"I'm really excited to play with Maria again," Kosminskaya, now a captain as a junior, said. "We played really well together freshman year."
This season should be an interesting one for the Red and Blue, as there are a lot of changes. First, after former head coach Mike Dowd resigned in December, Sara Schiffman was named the interim head coach. Schiffman had been an assistant coach for the past two years and was herself a member of the squad until graduating from the College in 2006. She was a captain as both a junior and senior.
"I can't wait for the season to start," Schiffman said. "I want the players to have a great experience with me as coach."
In addition, the No. 2 through No. 5 singles players from the 2008 season have all graduated: Yulia Rivelis, Julia Koulbitskaya, Charlotte Tansill and Michelle Mitchell.
"I'm very excited about the lineup. We have a lot of new players, and we're a young team," Schiffman said of her squad that includes three freshmen recruits.
Despite the loss of the four senior leaders, the Quakers have some strong returnees from last season, when they went 11-7.
Kosminskaya has played No. 1 singles since her freshman campaign and will be the leader in that spot again. She was the unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year as a freshman and an All-Ivy selection last season. Her doubles partner, Anisimova, will start the season at No. 2 in singles.
Junior Jackie Wong was injured last season but is expected to rejoin the lineup. Senior captain Lauren Sadaka will also be a singles starter.
"Lauren brings a lot of experience to the lineup," Schiffman said. "She will be somewhere in the top four."
Sophomores Vidya Dabir and Alexa Ely will also somehow fit into the equation this season. Dabir did not play much last season, but Schiffman is expecting her to get some good time at both singles and doubles this season. Ely had substantial match experience in 2008.
The three freshmen on the team are expected to make an immediate impact in the Quakers' lineup. Emily Wolf, who already made a name for herself as one of the top players in the USTA Eastern Section in high school, will be a singles starter for the Red and Blue this year.
"Emily has a huge serve and huge forehand," Schiffman said.
The other two freshmen, Daniela DePaoli and Jordyn Shaffer, have already shown a lot of improvement from the fall.
"They will be good players for us this year and over the four years that they're here," Schiffman said.
Like every other season, the primary goal for this season is to recapture the Ivy League Championship. Penn finished second last season after winning the title in 2007.
"The league keeps getting better," Schiffman said. "Harvard, Princeton and Yale have really stepped up."
Both of the team's captains are pleased with how the team has looked and worked in practice leading up to the season.
"All the players are working really hard," Sadaka said. "Everyone pushes each other."
The key to the season will be whether the Quakers can stay healthy. Currently, the team has no significant injuries, which is quite rare.
In the end, Schiffman might just be in her first year as head coach. But considering she's been part of Penn women's tennis for seven years now, she has a specific goal for her team this season.
"I'm trying to foster a team atmosphere," Schiffman said.
She's been around here long enough to know what that feels like.
