It’s always been perseverance for Penn women’s tennis.

This past weekend, Penn women’s tennis competed in the 28th annual Cissie Leary Invitational, a three-day affair. The Quakers faced off against Temple, Cornell, Maryland, and William and Mary. Saint Joseph’s and Princeton were also in attendance. Coming into the tournament, Penn women’s tennis had strong individual performances by junior Esha Velaga and sophomore Lara Stojanovski, who were both selected to the ITA All-American Championships. 

The first day of the tournament started with single matches against Temple, followed by doubles against Cornell.

Singles were dominated by the Quakers, who won five out of the seven matches. Freshman Varsha Vedula impressed, beating her opponent 7-5, 6-0. In doubles, sophomore Lara Stojanovski and freshman Joleen Saw faced a tough 8-2 loss, and juniors Sasha Motlagh and Liza Tkachenko narrowly lost 8-7 to the Big Red. On the neighboring court, however, Vedula and sophomore Sarah Wang held strong, winning 8-6. In total, five Quakers were victorious in their respective singles matches. 

On the second day of the tournament, the Quakers played singles against William and Mary, followed by doubles against Temple.

Singles drew on, with all four matches going to three sets and Penn prevailing in only one match. Despite the three losses, Saw managed to achieve a win. Though she experienced highs and lows in her match, Saw was able to bounce back from a second set of 6-0 to a final set with a score of 6-4 for the win. 

“I have to win this match and just play my best tennis, even if I lose. I want to lose with no regrets,” Saw said about her motivation throughout the final set. 

The second day of the tournament continued to provide success for the Quakers in doubles. All three Penn pairs came out on top in their respective matches. Though Penn was able to secure victory, not all the matches were easy. Senior Maya Urata and Saw kept Temple at bay, winning 8-7, while the pair of Tkachenko and Motlagh won by one break, 8-6. Vedula and Wang continued to show their strength as a team, ending the day with a final score of 8-3.

“[Doubles teams] were very much informed by their doubles the day before … each doubles team had things that they should be working on and addressing, and across the board, I think they did a really good job of putting it into action,” coach Sanela Kunovac said. 

Finally, the third day of the tournament saw the Red and Blue face Maryland in singles and doubles, as well as Drexel in doubles. Singles were a struggle for the Quakers again, posing a 1-5 record. Only Wang found victory in singles for the Red and Blue, doing so in straight sets of 6-4 and 6-3. Doubles was just as challenging, with tight matches on all three courts. Vedula and Saw fell to the Dragons 8-4, followed by Tkachenko and Saw losing 8-6. The final game for the Quakers came down to a tiebreaker, where Urata and Wang fought to bring one home for Penn. Unfortunately, they were unable to convert, taking the final score to a loss of 8-7.

“Just go hard, go big. Don’t be afraid to hit like big shots, … It’s not worth it if we just play passive[ly] and lose the match,” Saw said of her mindset during the tiebreaker. 

“Even though there were a few points that didn’t necessarily go away with that strategy, … it ultimately was the right plan,” Urata added. 

The team now prepares for ITA Northeast Regionals from Oct. 9-14 at home, where individual players compete in the main draw and the qualifying draw.