Freshman Ashley Lostritto may be a rookie, on a college campus for the first time, but this weekend's road trip will bring her home. On Friday evening, eight or nine members of the Penn women's tennis team will travel to her home in Old Brookville, N.Y,. to spend the night.
"We're all staying at Ashley's house this weekend, so it should be a fun, bonding experience," sophomore Sara Schiffman said.
Lostritto looks forward to hosting her new teammates both this weekend for the Columbia Invitational and next week for the United States Tennis Association Invitational in Flushing, N.Y.
"I love [the team]. The girls have really provided me with a lot of support," she said.
After several strong performances from top players at the Cissie Leary Invitational, the Quakers have reason to be optimistic as they prepare for the Columbia Invitational beginning on Friday.
"We all started off well this weekend and want to continue to improve upon what we've accomplished," senior co-captain Nicole Ptak said.
If last year's results are any indicator, Penn has an excellent chance of continuing to improve against Princeton and Columbia this weekend.
The Quakers defeated both Columbia and Princeton last spring, shutting out the Lions, 7-0, and defeating the Tigers, 6-1, at the Levy Tennis Pavillion. Princeton's loss of its top player, Kavitha Krishnamurthy, from a year ago to graduation will further help Penn's cause this year.
"I think we're [still] the strongest team out of Princeton and Columbia," Penn coach Mike Dowd said. "We had a strong showing this weekend and hope to continue to do the same."
Last season, at the Levy Pavilion when Penn's No. 1 player, Alice Pirsu, defeated Krishnamurthy -- a senior at the time -- in a grueling three-set match.
Pirsu lost in the semifinals of the Cissie Leary Invitational last weekend and is the 12th-ranked player in the nation
Penn got a glimpse of the Lions earlier this fall when they came to the Lott Tennis Courts to scrimmage.
Due to the brevity of the fall season, the Quakers feel as though they need to make the most out of each tournament in which they participate.
"We only have a few upcoming tournaments left this fall," Schiffman said. "We really want to make the best of what we have left so that we're confident going into the spring season. We've been training hard and working out a lot so hopefully it will pay off."
The Quakers have endured intense training over the past few weeks. While this weekend will be a time for many of the older players to rest and for junior Brandy Washington to recover from injury, the young talent on the team will be given a chance to shine.
Though all three captains -- including Pirsu and Ptak -- will be not be participating in the tournament, Ptak sees the invitational as an opportunity for the Quakers to build confidence.
"This is a good weekend to get matches in; we should really do well," she said.
Washington concurred.
"This weekend should be a good time for everyone to get match play," she said.
The Quakers feel confident entering the weekend and want to prove themselves going against Ivy League competition.
It will be "a time for us to show the Ivies what we have."
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