PHILADELPHIA- The University of Pennsylvania women's tennis team opens the 2025-26 season this weekend, heading to Williamsburg, Va., for the 30th edition of the Tribe Invitational at the College of William and Mary on Saturday and Sunday.
 
The teams featured in the two-day event include, W&M, Richmond, East Carolina, James Madison, and South Florida. The invitational will take place at both the McCormack-Nagelsen Center and the Mackesy Tennis Center at the Millie West Courts. The event will begin with two rounds of singles on Saturday followed by one doubles round and two rounds of doubles followed by one round of singles on Sunday.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Junior Esha Velaga earned No. 78 in the ITA Tennis singles rankings to start the year, the highest in the Ivy League.

*Velaga qualified for the main draw of the 2025 ITA All-American Championships in Cary, N.C.

*Three current Quakers (Maya Urata (#4), Esha Velaga (#2), and Lara Stojanovski (#13) landed in the top 20 in singles and the pairing of Velaga and Stojanovski (#7) landed in the top ten in doubles in the ITA regional rankings last year.

*Last year's team ranked fourth out of the top ten teams in the region by ITA Tennis.

*The Quakers incoming freshman class includes Joleen Saw, the No. 2  ranked player in Malaysia, and Varsha Vedula, a five-star recruit who was ranked No. 3 in North Carolina.

*The last time the team competed in the Tribe Invitational in 2023, Velaga took first place in the Green bracket, Liza Tkachenko won her first-round match in the Grey bracket, and Sasha Motlagh won her first match in the Silver bracket.
 
Saturday- Day One
Singles:
9 a.m.
Esha Velaga (PENN) vs. Kim Auerswald (ECU), Green Singles Draw
Lara Stojanovski (PENN) vs. Brooklyn Hoffman (JMU), Gold Singles Draw
Sasha Motlagh (PENN) vs. Lainey O'Neil (RIC), Gold Singles Draw
Maya Urata (PENN) vs. Corinna Reitmann (JMU), Black Singles Draw
Joleen Saw (PENN) vs. Rebeka Svabikova (W&M), White Singles Draw
10 a.m.
Liza Tkachenko (PENN) vs. Amy Walsh (RIC), Grey Singles Draw
10:15 a.m.
Sarah Wang (PENN) vs. Margherita Marcon (USF), Grey Singles Draw
10:30 a.m.
Varsha Vedula (PENN) vs. Ivona Savekova (ECU), Red Singles Draw
Doubles:
2:30 p.m.
Velaga/Saw (PENN) vs. Kernagis/Gonzales-Galino (W&M), Colonial Doubles Draw
Stojanovski/Motlagh (PENN) vs. O'Neil/Barbulescu (RIC), Griffin Doubles Draw
Urata/Tkachenko (PENN) vs. Munteanu/Reitmann (JMU), Griffin Doubles Draw
Wang/Vedula (PENN) vs. Falster/Vargas (USF), Coastal Doubles Draw
 
Sunday- Day Two
10 a.m.
Doubles semifinals/finals
11:30 a.m.
Singles semifinals
12:30/ 12:45/ 1 p.m.
Singles finals