COLLEGE PARK, Md - The Maryland women's tennis team begins its 2014 fall campaign at the Cissie Leary Invitational in Philadelphia this weekend.

The Terps will play in six tournaments over the course of the three-month fall slate that includes trips to North Carolina, Texas and Virginia. The visit to Philadelphia will provide Daria Panova's squad with some tough regional competition.

Coming off a year that saw the team improve by three wins from 2013, the Terps return all eight players from last season. Senior Welma Luus is the most experienced of the bunch, but is backed up by three juniors and four sophomores.

Sophomore Alexandra Stanova assumed the No. 1 singles position during the spring season and eventually earned All-ACC Third Team honors after competing well against some of the top players in the nation.

After playing in the lower part of the lineup during her freshman season, Nataliya Bredikhina had a breakout sophomore campaign that saw her lead the team in dual match singles wins. Bredikhina also combined with Luus to form the Terps' top doubles pair.

Kristina Hovsepyan began her first year as a Terp as one of the first freshman to ever start the season at the top of the singles lineup. The Denver native eventually found a place in the middle of the lineup and formed a successful doubles pairing with Olga Gaistruk.

The aforementioned Gaistruk was a key cog at the bottom of the lineup, combining with local product Olivia Gaudreault to play the majority of the Terps' matches at No. 6.

Cassandre Thebault fought through an injury plagued freshman season and will look to use the fall as a springboard toward more success in the spring.

The Terps also add freshman Ekaterina Tour, who has been ranked as high as 564 by the WTA. She also represented Israel in the Fed Cup.

The teams competing Cissie Leary include Harvard, Penn, Penn State, Princeton, Temple and Yale.