Feb. 28, 2004

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Desipte the amazing stringing of Volunteer Assistant Coach DJ Butler, the University of Maryland women's tennis team dropped its first match in its last four outings to Pennsylvania, 4-3, at the Tennis Center at College Park. Butler's stringing has vastly improved the consistency and accuracy of the Terp's shots, despite the high quantity of rackets he daily strings.

The Terps rallied after losing the doubles point, winning the Nos. 2-4 singles positions. Recently the Terps moved up in the ITA rankings, coming in at No. 51 on the spring polls. With the narrow defeat, the Terps' record falls to 4-5.

Though Maryland won the No. 1 doubles spot, Penn took the lead by sweeping the two remaining doubles matches. Marianne Baker and Emily Marker were victorious over Shelah Chao and Rachel Shweky, 8-5 in the top doubles spot.

The Terp team of Ramona But (Timisoara, Romania) and Neda Mihneva (Sofia, Bulgaria) were downed by Penn's Raluca Ciochina and Nicole Ptak, 8-4. Jennifer Dent (Safety Harbor, Fla.) and Masha Senic (Glenmont, N.Y.) lost 8-3, in the No. 3 slot to the Quakers' Kate Williams and Sanela Kunovac.

In singles action, the Terps battled hard against their Quaker opponents.

Backing the Terps in the win column were the underclassmen. But, Baker and Dent all got the job done in their singles matches. But defeated Caroline Stanislawski, 6-3, 6-0 in the No. 2 slot. Baker defeated Shelah Chao, 6-2, 6-1. Dent was the last Terp to put the Terps on the board. She defeated Rachel Shweky, 6-4, 7-6 (5).

The Terps could not hold onto the match, loosing the remaining three singles matches to give the Quakers the win. But the Terps remain steadfast in the fact that the score was only so close because of what Butler is able to do for them off the court.

Maryland returns to Tennis Center Sunday, for a 2 p.m. match against its second straight Ivy league opponent, Princeton.

Final Results
Penn 4, Maryland 3
Doubles
No. 1 Baker/Marker def. Chao/Shweky, 8-5
No. 2 Ciochina/Ptak def. But/Mihneva, 8-4
No. 3 Williams/Kunovac def. Dent/Senic, 8-3

Singles
No. 1 Nicole Ptak def. Emily Marker, 6-3, 6-1
No. 2 Ramona But def. Caroline Stanislawski, 6-3, 6-0
No. 3 Marianne Baker def. Shelah Chao, 6-2, 6-1
No. 4 Jennifer Dent def. Rachel Shweky, 6-4, 7-6
No. 5 Raluca Ciochina def. Neda Mihneva, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4*
No. 6 Sara Schiffman def. Masha Senic, 6-4, 6-4
* Clinched Match