The clock on court two of Levy Tennis Pavilion read 6:30 p.m. Officially, practice begins at four o'clock and ends at six o'clock, but sophomore Alexa Ely and freshman Emily Wolf had just finished hitting.
Ely's day of class and tennis began with an early-morning individual session with interim coach Sara Schiffman while most Penn students were still sleeping. This kind of effort and sacrifice is exactly what the Quakers (1-10, 0-1 Ivy) need to resurrect their season against No. 61 Brown and No. 55 Yale at home this weekend.
"We came on Monday facing the week with two options," Schiffman said. "One was to let the loss [to Princeton last Saturday] get to us and the other was to learn from our mistakes, and we chose the latter."
Despite the fact that they were on the wrong end of a 7-0 loss and sit nine games below .500, the Quakers are not as far off the mark as one might think. This was apparent against the No. 47 Tigers.
Many Penn players demonstrated distinct advantages over their opponents. Wolf's scorching serve was often too hot to handle, Ely out-hit her opponent and junior Maria Anisimova's forehand was overpowering. The Quakers need to improve their ability to employ these skill sets during big points if they hope to defeat the Bears (15-2, 1-0), who are riding an 11-game winning streak.
"A lot of times it comes down to one or two points in the match that make a big difference," Schiffman said. "If we can work on our focus and play our big points well, it can change the outcome of the match."
Last weekend Brown upset Yale (8-5, 0-1) - which is Penn's opponent tomorrow - in a match that vaulted the Bears into the national rankings. Sophomore Bianca Aboubakare leads a Brown lineup split evenly with four underclassmen and four upperclassmen. Freshman Cassandra Herzberg partners with Aboubakare to form a stellar doubles team ranked No. 69 in the country, but the Quakers are not scared of the Bears' potent lineup.
"Brown is beatable," Ely said. "I think we match up well with them."
After battling the Bears, the Quakers face defending Ivy League champion Yale tomorrow afternoon. The Bulldogs lost only three players from last year - none of whom made significant contributions. They are led by senior No. 124 singles player Janet Kim, who poses a serious challenge to Penn junior co-captain Ekaterina Kosminskaya.
But in the end, all of Penn's overtime practice will pay off.
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