UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Women's tennis head coach Alexandra Anghelescu opened up her second season campaign with back-to-back wins over Michigan State and Indiana, two programs that the Nittany Lions hadn't beaten in over five years.
With the cancellation of fall competition, in conjunction with the challenges presented by a global pandemic, these first two meetings stood as even taller obstacles than in years past.
However, contributions from Anghelescu's first recruiting class as Penn State's head coach propelled the Nittany Lions to a 2-0 record, in which four freshmen won at least one of their matches.
Evidently, head-to-head history did not phase the newcomers, who collectively envisioned the early success that they were having prior to the start of the season.
"I don't look at this in a way like 'Oh we've never beaten them,'" Sofiya Chekhlystova said. "I just played my doubles match, singles match and for me, it doesn't matter who it is.'"
"The whole team put in so much work that I don't think I was surprised at how well we were doing," Alexandra Nielsen added. "But it was definitely a team effort, and it's just a great environment."
From the day they stepped on campus, through that first win and throughout the season, the freshmen have faced challenges and grown as a group.
If there was a silver lining to the difficult circumstances and tight living restrictions that the freshmen were dealt throughout its first fall semester, it's the fact that the team was already more unified than they could've imagined.
"I honestly think it [COVID-19] brought us closer together, since we don't really see a lot of other people," Karly Friedland said. "I almost sort of locked in at that moment and knew that I wanted to step up for my team and put some points on the board."
"I made three best friends like right away just because we were spending so much time together," Chekhlystova added.
The complications associated with the pandemic galvanized the young women on personal levels. But, when the selfless guidance that they received from their experienced teammates was factored in, adversity quickly turned to solidarity, allowing the team to share a sense of continuity on the courts in the spring.
"They've taken us in and really helped us and showed the ropes," Friedland said. "I think that laid the groundwork almost for how our team dynamic was, and it just allowed for us to be in this comfortable situation where we weren't afraid of anything."
"The seniors and upperclassmen have made us so welcome, which makes it so much better to compete with each other," Chekhlystova said.
As the first-year student-athletes' ability to compete on the collegiate level has been tested, their development of their skill and demeanors has been stimulated as well.
But despite the early success and opportunity that they've been granted, this group of five freshmen, including Alina Lebedeva and Danielle Alamo, is not satisfied with the progress it has made, noting that there is still much room to grow.
"I honestly think we haven't even hit our best tennis yet," Friedland said. "The transition to college tennis is tough, so I just think with more matches and practice, it can only get better."
"It's only up for us," Nielsen said. "I think that this is just the beginning and we have big things ahead of us."
In fact, while this promising group is focused on finishing the season strong, it is also looking past the hurdles that it has previously overcome, with the prospect of helping the Penn State program reach new heights resonating amongst them.
"We want to make an appearance at NCAAs and make a run there," Friedland said. "I think that our biggest goal is to get the program to the best it could possibly be, and just play whatever role we need in order to get there."
