Freshman phenom Connie Hsu made her spring debut for the women’s tennis team Wednesday, picking up where she left off after a stellar fall season.
Hsu, ranked No. 14 in the nation, defeated Drexel’s Godze Unkaya, who retired after just five games and was one of three Dragons to retire early on the day. Penn finished with a 7-0 sweep of Drexel.
The rookie Hsu joined three other freshmen in the starting lineup as coach Sanela Kunovac put stock in her newest class. Jaime Yapp-Shing forced her opponent to retire after going up 5-2 in the first set, and Lauren Bridges won in two sets, 6-1, 6-0.
Classmate Stephanie Do was the only Penn player to lose a set on the day, though she still prevailed, 6-3, 2-6, 10-8, winning the final set in the tiebreaker.
Junior Daniela DePaoli easily won in the four spot, 6-2, 6-2, while sophomore Emma Whitfield forced her opponent to retire after three games.
The Quakers also picked up the doubles point with a clean sweep in all three matches.
After handling Drexel, 6-1, last year, the 7-0 victory puts the spring season off to another strong start as Penn builds towards Ivy play in mid-March.
The Quakers head to the Virginia Commonwealth Invitational this weekend where they will play Virginia Commonwealth, Norfolk State and North Carolina-Wilmington.
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