For the past four years, spring break for the Penn women's tennis team has meant a one-week excursion to the West Coast to battle against some of the country's premier tennis competition.
Historically the trip has been a tough one for the Quakers as they have compiled a 7-10 record in the past four seasons. This year was no exception as Penn (1-9) limped home from California with an 0-4 showing.
"We had a great experience, [but] it was tough with the four losses," interim coach Sara Schiffman said.
Three of the losses came to opponents ranked in the top 60 which brings Penn's record against ranked opponents to 0-4 for the year. Despite the poor results on paper, there were a few close battles.
In the 7-0 loss to St. Mary's (3-7), junior No. 1 Ekaterina Kosminskaya and No. 3 Lauren Sadaka lost in third set tiebreaks.
Against No. 37 Fresno State, Maria Anisimova, Sadaka and freshman Jaqueline Wong all battled to three sets in singles while Wong, partnered with sophomore Alexa Ely, took their doubles match to a thrilling tiebreaker.
"There were moments against Fresno where it looked like we had a chance and we were really in it," Schiffman said.
The Quakers were simply outclassed against No. 59 Arizona (7-5) and No. 34 Sacramento State (9-5) losing 6-1 to both teams.
The results of the road trip were not a huge surprise for the team. The Quakers went up against seasoned opponents all week including the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked doubles teams in the nation against Fresno State (8-4).
"I think we went into the trip knowing the competition would be tough," Schiffman said.
A major purpose of this trip is to give Penn experience playing outdoors. They spend the winter season playing indoors where the only elements to deal with are the fans.
Outdoors, the players have to contend with the temperature, the wind and the sun.
Playing in sunny California gave the Red and Blue a taste of the conditions and competition that they will face in the upcoming Ivy League schedule, which includes No. 40 Princeton and No. 42 Yale. The trip also provided a perfect opportunity for team bonding.
"We spent so much more time together this past week than we had all year," Schiffman said. "It was very important for us as a team."
The first half of the season has been rough for the young Quakers, but they now have a two-week layoff to regroup before their grueling Ancient Eight stretch.
The Quakers have a lot to prove, and if they hope to succeed they must forget about their dismal start to the 2009 campaign.
"We are going in with a clean slate for our next matches," Schiffman said.
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