Senior Gavriella Smith serves during the conference opener against Princeton on March 29.
Credit: Grace ChenThe sun shone brightly over the Hamlin and Hecht Tennis Centers for the start of the Ivy League season.
Following tradition, Penn’s first match saw the team face off against its historic rival: the Princeton Tigers, the five-time defending Ivy League champions. The match was tight, but Penn persevered for a 4-3 win.
“[Having two players injured] was part of preparation [for this match], making sure that all 10 players are ready to step in, that all 10 players [know what to] expect of themselves, of each other. And it really came through today,” coach Sanela Kunovac said.
Penn (8-7, 1-0 Ivy) started off strong, winning two of the three doubles matches to secure the doubles point of the day. Senior doubles partners Eileen Wang and Sabine Rutlauka quickly beat Tigers duo Maren Urata and Eva Elbaz 6-2, heavily playing the offensive and covering the entire court.
On the next court over, sophomore Esha Velaga and senior Gavriella Smith were neck and neck against Princeton’s Pearlie Zhang and Bella Chhiv, but the Quakers duo ended up losing 6-3. This left the doubles point up to the Penn duo of freshman Lara Stojanovski and junior Maya Urata.
The Red and Blue had a slow and steady matchup against Princeton duo Tsehay Driscoll and Alice Ferlito, with long points converting into even longer games. Finally, the Quakers were able to break the Tigers (7-8, 0-1) to win the set 6-4.
With the doubles point in the bag, the six singles matches followed. On court three, Wang dropped her serve early, going on to lose the first set 6-2. Wang continued to struggle to find her footing, leading her to lose the second set 6-1 — quickly putting Princeton on the board with its first point.
As Velaga battled on court one to win her first set 7-5, Rutlauka dropped a game early in the first set, with Chhiv going up 3-1. She widened the gap all the way to 5-2 until Rutlauka hit her stride and battled back to make it 5-4. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough, and Chhiv took the first set 6-4. While their second set began, Smith was wrapping up her strong showing against Zhang, winning in straight sets 6-2, 6-3.
The remaining singles matchups continued to one-up the score: Stojanovski lost in straight sets 6-1, 6-3, followed by a Penn victory on court one from Velaga. In a close ending, Rutlauka lost to Chhiv 7-5, taking the overall score to 3-3.
With all teams at a tie, all eyes were on court six where Maya Urata stood opposite her childhood friend and high school teammate Driscoll in a third set to decide their matchup and the match as a whole.
“Is it the ideal situation? No, but I had mentally prepared myself,” Maya Urata said about Driscoll. “Honestly … I adopt the mindset when I go on court of just erasing the opponent’s face and just focusing on what I can control, which is my own game: how I compete, how composed I am, my attitude.”
After dropping the first set to Driscoll 6-3, Maya Urata quickly responded to lead 3-0 in the second. Driscoll continued to battle, fighting her way back to an even 3-3, but Maya Urata was able to clinch the second set 6-4.
“It’s always a little bit nerve-wracking knowing that the match is going to come down to you,” Maya Urata said about high-pressure situations. “I’ve been in the same position a couple months ago, and unfortunately, that match didn’t go my way. So I was almost really eager to put myself in this situation again, and almost like avenge myself.”
Each player had their entire team’s eyes on them, with players cheering at every opportunity for their teammates. The final set was remarkably close, and as Driscoll and Maya Urata traded points and games, the cheers on each side only got louder.
“I personally think that our team did a better job at cheering and getting into our opponent’s faces today. I think we definitely sealed the barrier with that,” Maya Urata said.
Finally, Maya Urata finished strong against Driscoll’s aggressive yet steady play to win the final set of the afternoon 6-4.
With the conclusion of this first match, next week begins the series of double matchups each weekend for the Ivy League.
Kunovac isn’t worried about the upcoming few weeks.
“I have full confidence when the team shows up on the courts on Monday, they’ll have a sense of purpose,” Kunovac said. “They’ll be dialed in on whatever it is that they’re working on that day, because it’s been, you know, that’s what’s been working for us. … We’re going to keep doing that.”
On Saturday, the Quakers will travel up north to face both Dartmouth and Harvard toward their goal of an Ivy League championship this season.
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