The Regionals at Penn were one of eight regional tournaments played throughout the country, featuring the best players from 58 schools in the eastern region.
Top singles player Molly Scott '11 had a strong showing, winning two straight matches to advance to the round of 32.
As the No. 15 seed, Scott had a bye into the round of 64. On Sunday, she defeated Denise Liebschner of Seton Hall University, 6-1, 6-0. Later that day, Scott notched another victory over 17th-seeded Eleanor Peters of the University of Maryland 6-3, 6-1.
In the round of 16, Scott took on Jenny Stevens from the University of Virginia. Stevens was too much for Scott, who fell 6-1, 6-0.
Stevens, a junior from Miami, ranked No. 68 nationally, was the 5th seed in the tournament. She made the All-Atlantic Coast Conference team last year.
This September, at the Riviera-ITA Women's All-American Championship, Stevens defeated No. 44 Elizabeth Plotkin of Duke before falling to No. 67 Marritt Boonstra of the University of Florida.
Before going to Virginia, Stevens won seven United States Tennis Association national junior titles.
Despite the tough loss, Scott had good things to say about her ITA regionals experience.
"I thought I played well," she said. "I really enjoyed competing with the girls there and seeing all the top players, so I would consider it a success. I learned that I still have ways to improve. I thought I competed well, though, and I'm happy with my game. I tried to be aggressive and take control of the point, but in my last match, the other girl was just better."
Scott's impressive play has not gone unnoticed.
"Molly certainly continues to prove herself as one of the top players in the region," head coach Bob Dallis said.
In the doubles draw, Scott teamed up with Shelley Carpeni '12. The duo had a convincing 8-0 win in its first-round match against Howard University's Ashley Moore and Alyssa Works. In the second round, however, Scott and Carpeni lost to the ninth-seeded Maryland team of Michal Amir and Lisa Miller, 8-2.
Carpeni, in her first ITA regional, had the opportunity to play with and learn from the experience of Scott. The two had played for the first time in New York several weeks earlier at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center College Invitational, where they went 1-1 in their flight of doubles consolation.
"It was very beneficial because she's a great role model who I look up to," Carpeni said. "She has a lot of experience from last year, so it was great to play with her. We showed a lot of improvement from the first time we played."
In addition to Scott's efforts in the main draw, two Dartmouth players were slated to compete in the 32-player singles qualifying draw on Friday.
In her first qualifying match, Ryan Reichel '11 faced Sara Mansur of Brown University. Reichel lost to Mansur in three sets just two weeks earlier, but this time she was victorious in the rematch, 6-3, 7-5. In her second qualifying match, Reichel fell 6-1 to the University of Buffalo's Smaranda Stan.
Stan, a senior from Romania, was the Mid-American Conference's representative at the NCAA tournament last year and was awarded the first seed of the 32 players in the qualifiers. Stan went on to be one of the eight qualifiers to advance into the singles draw, where she was eliminated in the second round.
Georgiana Smyser '11 was originally scheduled to play in the singles draw, but was forced to pull out of the tournament due to a shoulder injury.
"I don't think it's anything serious," Dallis said. "It's one of those things you want to be careful with when you're a tennis player."
The tournament concluded on Tuesday, when the two singles finalists, Regini Acjarya of William and Mary College and Bianca Aboubakare of Brown, along with the doubles champions Nadine Fahoum and Charleen Haarhoff of Old Dominion, earned spots in this November's National Indoor Championships at the University of Virignia.
The Big Green hosts the Big Green Invitational beginning Friday, Nov. 7 at the Alexis Boss Tennis Center in Hanover.
