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Women's tennis matches against Drexel Credit: Lalita Clozel

After an impressive 7-0 sweep of crosstown rival Drexel in its spring debut, the women’s tennis team will look to take their momentum on the road as they travel to Richmond, Va., to compete in the VCU Invitational this weekend.

Led by freshman Connie Hsu, who is ranked No. 14 in the nation and No. 1 in the region, the Quakers have learned from the fall season how to mentally and physically prepare for a full match. After dropping only one set against Drexel, the women’s team never looked back.

“We’ve all been working hard during practice and I know my game has definitely improved,” junior Daniela DePaoli wrote in an e-mail, “but there are always things to improve on.”

It is this attention to detail and dedication that has the Quakers sitting pretty going into their weekend tournament.

In order to prepare effectively for three matches in two days, coach Sanela Kunovac stressed teamwork, discipline and confidence during practice. With freshmen making up two thirds of her roster, one would imagine Kunovac would have to stress patience and playing within themselves, but that is not the case with this group of Quakers.

Despite their youth, the Quakers are not lacking in confidence. While the upperclassmen are few in number, they make up for it with their experience.

“My freshman year I looked up to the upperclassmen on our team so I hope I can help our freshman out when they need advice,” DePaoli wrote.

Freshman Stephanie Do, DePaoli’s doubles partner, as well as fellow freshmen Jaime Yapp-Shing and Connie Hsu will need to play well in order for the Quakers to have a successful year. As the top three singles seeds, these girls have nowhere to go but up.

The Quakers will start the tournament off with a Saturday matinee against host Virginia Commonwealth, followed by an afternoon showdown with Norfolk State. Before returning to Penn they will finish Sunday with UNC Wilmington.

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