The No. 27 women’s tennis team (12–3, 0–0 Ivy) will finally begin Ivy League play when they face Penn (5–6, 0–1) today at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center. Saturday at noon, the Bulldogs will take on the No. 70 Princeton Tigers (8–8, 1–0).
Having defeated Quinnipiac and Rutgers last week, Yale enters Ivy League play on a two-match winning streak. In contrast, Penn has lost its last two. All indications point toward a victory to kick off the Ancient Eight season. One match to watch will be at the No. 1 spot, where Elizabeth Epstein ’13 will take on Penn No. 1 Sol Eskenazi, who has lost just once this spring.
Penn’s schedule this season has not featured many highly-ranked teams. In fact, Yale will be the best team the Quakers face this spring.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs will undoubtedly face a sterner test against the Tigers. Earlier this season, the Elis defeated Princeton 4–2 in the finals of the ECAC Indoor Championship.
Unlike the Quakers, the Tigers have played top-notch opposition this spring in preparation for the Ivy season. Princeton has matched up against No. 13 Georgia Tech and No. 6 Miami (Fla.). The Tigers lost both matches.
Vicky Brook ’12 said that Yale knows little about Penn but will go into that match looking to impose its style of play. As for Princeton, the Bulldogs are ready for a battle. In their match for the ECAC Indoor Championship, five of the six singles matches went to three sets.
“We are very aware of the way that Princeton plays, pretty baseline-oriented,” Brook said. “They’re counterpunchers, quick around the court, and they get a lot of balls back. If we’re mentally as well as physically strong, we should come out on top.”
Entering Ivy League play, team members expressed satisfaction with their performance so far this season. But the team fully expects to be crowned Ivy champions.
“We are the highest-ranked team in the Ivies, so there is a big target on our backs,” Brook said. “We’ve been working extremely hard until now, and we’re ready to put that hard work into action.”
Today’s match begins at 2 p.m.