Lauren Sadaka can't wait for the women's tennis season to begin.
Individually, the team captain is undefeated in Ivy League play, and she would love to cap off her senior season with an Ivy League title.
"There's a good feeling about the team this year," Sadaka said. "Everyone's been working very hard, and I'm really excited."
The Quakers open up the 2009 spring tennis season tomorrow at 1 p.m. against Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va. Their inaugural weekend continues Sunday against Norfolk State.
Last season, Penn narrowly escaped defeat against ODU, pulling out the match by a score of 4-3 at home.
However, perennial No. 1 singles and doubles player, Ekaterina Kosminskaya, missed last year's match with an injury. Furthermore, only two players on this year's roster played in last year's match against the Monarchs, current-junior Maria Anisimova and current-sophomore Alexa Ely.
"I want to see how the freshmen play," Kosminskaya said. "Our primary goal is to win, but we want to see where we stand."
More important to the Quakers than winning the match is determining what they can improve on in preparation for the Ivy League season. Additionally, interim coach Sara Schiffman needs to see how her players perform in matches in order to assemble the strongest lineup for the Ivies.
"We have been conditioning and practicing hard," the first-year coach said. "I just want everyone to go out there and see how we're playing as a team."
Schiffman recently became interim head coach after former coach Mike Dowd resigned in December. She was an assistant coach on the team the past two seasons and a player the previous four, serving as captain her junior and senior years.
"It's been a smooth transition and going really well so far," Sadaka said. "Sara is motivated, focused and really enjoying it."
Despite a close match last season with ODU, Penn is confident that it will defeat the Monarchs tomorrow.
"I feel good about this match," Sadaka said. "Hopefully, we do well, and then we'll see from there."
"We want to set the tone for the season right away," Schiffman added. "We're going to compete hard and see where we stand right now."
