When the year began, the Penn women's tennis team didn't know quite what to expect from its talented freshmen. Maria Anisimova knew even less about what to expect from the team. Then, all of a sudden, the rookie took the College Tennis Invitational by storm, plowing through a slew of experienced, high-profile athletes to win the "C" bracket.

They are two nights in Mark Zoller's great career, one ordinary and one extraordinary. And they are now forever tied to each other in history. The first night: Dec. 7, 2002, the previous time that Penn beat Temple, and just another evening at the gym in the life of Mark Zoller.

Penn women's tennis is back, and it's reloaded. With a talented group of freshman accompanying the returning veterans, the team is positioned to improve on last year's finish - the Quakers lost out on the Ivy League title but still managed to make the NCAA Tournament and upset No.

By Josh Wheeling Senior Staff Writer jw4@sas.upenn.edu No matter how hard he tried, Fran Dunphy couldn't avoid the media circus that was his return to the Palestra. Leading up to the game, the Temple coach was bombarded in television interviews about returning to Penn - the school at which he won 310 games and 10 Ivy League titles.

Report says Palestra tourney to start in '07 The Thanksgiving-weekend exempt tournament to be played at the Palestra will begin next year - and Penn is a participant - according to senior ESPN.com reporter Andy Katz. Katz's blog quoted Saint Joseph's head coach Phil Martelli yesterday as saying that the tournament would begin next year and that Penn, Drexel, Rutgers, Virginia, Loyola (Md.

As a freshman last year, the only recognition Dionte Christmas got was talk of his potential. The freshman guard made appearances in all of the Owls' 32 games, averaging 3.5 points in only 11.3 minutes per appearance. But when Temple hosted Akron in the final game of the 2005-06 season, former Temple coach John Chaney gave Christmas a new type of recognition.

As soon as the Penn and Temple schedules were released last fall, everyone circled tonight on their calendars. That is because it marks the return of former Penn coach Fran Dunphy, who left to become Temple's head coach after 17 years leading the Quakers.

By Josh Hirsch Senior Staff Writer jjhirsch@sas.upenn.edu Fran Dunphy has been the head coach of 206 games at the Palestra. Number 207 will be a little different. After 17 years as the head coach at Penn, Dunphy will make his first appearance as a visiting boss when his Temple squad visits the Quakers tonight.

By Eric Karlan Staff Writer karlan@sas.upenn.edu While the Penn women's basketball squad remains winless in Big 5 play this season, Saint Joseph's (10-8, 2-1 Big 5) is seeking to snatch the coveted city title away from reigning champion Temple by week's end.

Former Penn coach Fran Dunphy may be roaming the sidelines across the Schuylkill nowadays, but when he returns to the Palestra tonight with his Temple squad, it's unlikely his former players will have forgotten about him - or his famous mustache.

Several years from now, Jen Oyler may save lives in many different ways. In the meantime, she is content helping her teammates defeat the opposition in as many different ways. Oyler, the daughter of two lawyers, prefers another profession. The Saint Joseph's sophomore is eyeing a career in medicine, and so far she is well on her way.

By Josh Hirsch Senior Staff Writer jjhirsch@sas.upenn.edu When Penn beat La Salle 93-92 last week, it was not just the team's first one-point win in more than five years. It was also Penn's highest aggregate scoring win in almost 20 years, and it was the second-highest aggregate score since 1990 (with the highest being the Quakers' 89-99 loss to Villanova last month).

Peterson rescinds his commitment to Tigers Jeff Peterson, a 6-foot point guard out of Hyattsville, Md., has withdrawn his commitment to play basketball at Princeton next year and reopened his recruitment, according to the highly regarded recruiting Web site scout.

Harvard basketball coach Frank Sullivan should be fired. Despite what the Harvard Athletics Web site calls "its most successful era in history," Harvard has achieved little over the past 15 years. They have not won an Ivy title, they have not made the NCAA tournament, and have never garnered a bid to the National Invitational Tournament.

In 1874, Harvard hosted, and defeated, McGill University in the first known rugby match in the United States. Now, 133 years later, English football could some day be returning to the Ivy League -- as a women's varsity sport. While developments are in the extreme preliminary stages, the Penn women's club rugby team is one of many following the lead of USA Rugby - the sport's governing body - by looking into NCAA varsity status.

By Andrew Scurria Senior Sports Editor scurria@sas.upenn.edu According to one local source, an in-season basketball tournament to be played over Thanksgiving weekend should be coming to the Palestra in the near future. The Philadelphia Daily News reported on Friday that such an exempt tournament - so-called because the events include several games but only count as one towards each team's limit of 29 - is in the works and would consist of four games.

After nearly upsetting No. 3 seed Rutgers in last year's NCAA tournament, the Dartmouth women entered this season with some major question marks.