Velaga serves against Cornell on April 5, 2024.
Credit: Grace ChenSeven is not the luckiest number.
Coming into the tournament with a solid 3-2 spring record, the Quakers were the third seed. However, even with the home-court advantage, the team finished in seventh place — the same as they did last year.
Penn women’s tennis team faced off against three different Ivy teams this weekend at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Women’s Indoor Championship — previewing what is to come later in the spring season.
Throughout the tournament, freshman Lara Stojanovski stood out — winning all her singles matches in straight sets and winning two of her doubles matches with junior partner Maya Urata.
Assistant coach Pino He highlighted how her security from any place on the court makes it hard for opponents to get a point off her.
“She’s outstanding on the court,” He said.
Another player who shined throughout the tournament was senior Eileen Wang. She either won or led in all of her singles matches. In her match against Cornell’s Michelle Ryndin, Wang narrowly won the first set 7-5 before losing the second 6-4. It was her ability to adjust after this challenge and adapt to the opponent mixing up her pace that allowed her to come back and take control of the third set at 5-1.
The team’s first matchup was against Yale, where the Bulldogs narrowly beat the Quakers, 4-3. The day started strong with Penn winning the doubles point after wins from the doubles teams of Stojanovski and Urata and sophomore Sasha Motlagh and senior Gavriella Smith.
Moving onto singles, the momentum continued with Wang shutting out Yale’s Mirabelle Brettkelly — winning 6-0. Furthering Penn’s lead, Stojanovski defeated Shyla Aggarwal in straight sets.
After being up 3-0 overall to last year’s second-place winners, Penn’s lead dwindled as senior Sabine Rutlauka, along with Smith, and Motlagh all lost in straight sets.
These losses tied up the score — putting the pressure on Urata to win her singles game against Yale’s Angela Huang. Urata lost the first set but was able to come back and take the second, putting everything on the third and final set. Unfortunately, Urata was unable to convert, falling 6-1 to Huang.
Following the first day of play, Rutlauka retired from the tournament due to an injury — joining sophomore Esha Velaga, who was out with an illness, off the court.
“We don’t want to risk [Rutlauka and Velaga]. [They’re] not seriously injured, but we want to save them for the future big tournament,” He said.
On the second day of the tournament, Penn faced off against Cornell, a team which ended up being another tight matchup. After losing the doubles point, Stojanovski responded with a decisive straight-set victory against Victoria Zhao, making the score 1-1. The teams alternately won and lost — with Penn senior Saige Roshkoff losing her match and Motlagh winning hers. The Big Red took the lead once again as Urata fell to Cornell’s Hoi Ki Jenny, taking the score to 3-2.
The last two matches were being played simultaneously, while the rest of the team watched and cheered in anticipation. Smith dropped the first set but was able to rally to win the second to force a third. Wang won her first set against Ryndin, 7-5, but after, Ryndin defeated Wang in the second set. The two battled in the third set, but the match was abandoned after Smith was defeated by Cornell’s Sage Loudon. This took the final score to 4-2 — with Cornell walking away with the win.
On the final day of competition, Penn battled Brown for seventh place. Penn easily won the first two doubles matches of the day — allowing them to move swiftly on to singles. All of the singles matches were completed in straight sets, except the last which was cut off because of Penn’s win. Smith finished her match first, winning 6-3 and 6-1, but her success was followed by losses for the Quakers. Now tied at 2-2, the team came back with two wins from Wang and Stojanovski, putting Penn over the threshold to lock in seventh place.
“They’re very resilient,” He said when asked about coming back for a win after two straight losses. “We’re so focused on ourselves … and every player is focused on staying on top of it.”
While taking seventh place might not have been the team’s goal coming into the tournament, the spring season is only just beginning. The ECAC allowed the players to play against the rest of the Ivy League before the Ivy season starts at the end of March.
The team heads down to Florida to battle Central Florida on Feb. 23 before returning to play Lehigh at Hecht Tennis Center the following week.
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