The women’s tennis team wraps up its spring season this weekend, with a match today versus defending Ivy champ No. 58 Penn (12-5, 5-0) in Philadelphia, followed by a Sunday match versus Princeton (6-8, 2-3) back in Ithaca. The Red (11-7, 1-4) will look to rebound after losing two close matches to Brown and Yale. In the fall, the netwomen faced the Tigers at the ECAC championship, with the Tigers coming out on top. Last spring, the Quakers bested the Red 6-1.
The Quakers are on the verge of winning their second straight Ivy League crown. Having swept Dartmouth and No. 59 Harvard, Penn is riding a lot of momentum coming into this match. The team is led by No. 20 Alice Pirsu, who is undefeated in Ivy play. Earlier this season, she knocked off Harvard’s Courtney Bergman, currently ranked 29th in the country. In order to stay close with Penn, the Red will need to secure the doubles point, something it hasn’t been able to do in its recent matches.
Returning home on Sunday, the Red looks to avenge its loss in the fall to the Tigers. The first singles contest will feature a rematch between junior co-captain Suzanne Wright and No. 51 Kavitha Krishnamurthy of Princeton. The two met at the ITA Eastern Regional Championships in October, with Krishnamurthy coming off with a win in the round of 32.
Wright and freshman Akane Kokubo have been very strong in Ivy play this season. Last weekend, they knocked off Yale’s All-Ivy First Doubles team, and both boast impressive singles records. Wright has a 4-1 Ivy record, while Kokubo is undefeated in conference play.
Sunday’s match against Princeton begins at noon at Reis Tennis Center.
Archived article by Jonathan Auerbach