Senior Eileen Wang returns a serve during a game against Princeton on March 29.
Credit: Grace ChenPenn dominated this weekend, clinching two wins at home to round out the Ivy League season. With the wins over Brown and Yale, both 4-2, the Red and Blue secured second place for Penn in the Ivy League conference, just behind Harvard, which went undefeated this season.
First up against Penn (12-9, 5-2 Ivy) at the Hamlin Tennis Center was Brown (10-11, 2-4 Ivy). Doubles got off to a rough start as Penn got broken on two courts in the first game. On Court 1, seniors Sabine Rutlauka and Eileen Wang went down at 0-4 before fighting back to 2-4 soon after. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to keep the comeback, and soon lost the set 6-2.
On Court 3, junior Maya Urata and sophomore Esha Velaga were broken about halfway through the set, which carried through for a 6-4 win for Brown and claimed the doubles point for the Bears.
The Quakers were not discouraged and began playing singles strong. 20 minutes in, Penn held leads on four of the six courts.
“When you lose, I think it kind of sharpens your focus … all of a sudden there’s a bigger sense of urgency because one point is already on the board against you … They [the team] just dialed in,” coach Sanela Kunovac said.
On Courts 1 and 6, Velaga and Smith broke their opponents early in the first set, and continued to widen their leads, both taking their first sets in about 30 minutes at 6-1. Soon after, Rutlauka and freshman Lara Stojanovski also claimed their first sets at 6-4 and 6-3, respectively.
Senior Gavriella Smith was on a roll, speedily winning her second set 6-2 and tying the overall score at 1-1. As Smith finished things up, Urata was going into a tiebreaker for the first set, which she won 8-6.
A point for each team came soon as Velaga won her second set 6-3 for a straight set win and Wang lost 6-2, bringing the score to 2-2. On the other courts, Rutlauka was in the lead, looking to avoid a third set, Stojanovski was down in the second set, and Urata was looking strong as she began her second set.
Penn took the lead again when Rutlauka took the set at 7-5 after an hour and a half of play, making the score 3-2.
The two remaining matches were in very different positions: Stojanovski was forced into a third set after dropping the second 6-4, essentially beginning fresh at 0-0, while Urata began her second set with impressive offensive play that took her to an early lead.
Once she began, there was no stopping Urata as she took game after game, winning the set 6-0 and securing the overall win for Penn at 4 points to 2.
“I definitely had a lot more confidence. I was playing a bit more aggressive[ly] in the second set. … after the first set …maybe [my opponent] was lacking a bit of confidence. … It gave me a lot more unforced errors or opportunities to move forward, and the points were just a lot cleaner,” Urata said.
The turnaround balloons peppered the courts as part of the senior day celebration. The four seniors, Wang, Rutlauka, Smith, and Saige Roshkoff were given their flowers, literally and figuratively, before the match against Yale (12-10, 3-4 Ivy) commenced.
The Quakers were off to the races as Smith and Stojanovski looked particularly offensive while remaining really stable. They were the first to finish — winning 6-3. On Court 1, Wang and Rutlauka also won 6-3. With the doubles point in the bag, the team was looking to maintain its lead in singles as well.
Speed was the name of the game for Smith once again, as she took the first set 6-0 in about 20 minutes. A few minutes later, Urata also took her first set 6-1.
Around the one-hour mark, Smith wrapped up her match with a 6-2 win — tying a beautiful bow on her last tennis match as a Quaker. Urata also won her match at 6-1 in the second set. With the score now at 3-0, Wang took a hard won first set at 7-5, while Rutlauka, Velaga, and Stojanovki were all down a set.
Velaga seemed to run out of steam, losing 6-1 in the second set, giving the Bulldogs their first point of the afternoon. Another point for Yale came when Rutlauka lost her second set in a tiebreaker.
At 3-2, it was down to Stojanovski and Wang. Stojanovski was down a set and Wang was up one, so all eyes were on the side by side courts. The bridge above the courts was lined with people — everyone from friends to family to other student-athletes was loud and proud, cheering for the Red and Blue.
Every point won by either Wang or Stojanovski was instantly followed by increasingly loud applause and encouragement.
“It means a lot. … so I really want to thank everybody that came out. It was great to have energy, definitely to help me through my match, and I’m sure all my teammates appreciated it,” Wang said.
As Stokanovski began a tiebreaker after being up 6-5, Wang was serving for the match at 5-4. The game went to deuce, where one final point decides the game. With an explosive serve, Wang put the ball just out of her opponent’s reach to take game, set, and match for her team. Instantly, the team swarmed around Wang, cheering and jumping. After narrowly losing to Yale in the ECAC Championships in February, this win felt like a “full-circle moment” to Wang.
“There was no better way that we could have ended it off. It’s been a crazy season, an insane four years. … Yeah, [I] couldn’t have asked for a better day. ... It was just amazing and very grateful to have been a part of this program,” Wang reflected.
The two wins place Penn at second in the Ivy League, an impressive finish fit for an impressive team.
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