RAMS THROTTLE PENN, 6-1, FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT WIN

RICHMOND, Va. – Temperatures rose into the 60s around the Metro Richmond area on Sunday, and it's late February.

The reason for the warm weather? It may be the Virginia Commonwealth University women's tennis team, who steamrolled Penn, 6-1, for their fourth straight win to improve to 7-2 on the 2010 campaign.

Sophomore Alex Bara (Oradea, Romania) and senior Olena Leonchuk (Kiev, Ukraine) dropped Daniela Depaoli and Emma Whitfield, 8-0, and veterans Laura Burns (Hertford, England) and Kateryna Yergina (Kiev, Ukraine) (bottom, left) locked up the doubles point with an 8-1 win over Jules Rodin and Jacqueline Wong.

The Black & Gold continued their strong play in singles competition with five consecutive straight set victories, led by Yergina and Leonchuk, who both picked up 6-0, 6-0 wins.

Freshman Josefin Hjertquist (Spanga, Sweden) (top) kept up her outstanding debut season with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Rodin at #2 singles. She is now 19-5 overall and 6-2 in dual matches this spring.

The Rams are back in action on Tuesday afternoon when they host the Eagles of Winthrop University in a 2 p.m. match-up at Thalhimer Tennis Center.

#29 VCU 6, Penn 1

Doubles:
1. Ana Bara/Hjertquist def. Emily Wolf/Alexa Ely, 8-3
2. Burns/Yergina def. Jules Rodin/Jacqueline Wong, 8-1
3. Alex Bara/Leonchuk def. Daniela Depaoli/Emma Whitfield, 8-0
Order of finish: 3,2,1

Singles:
1. Alexa Ely def. Ana Bara, 7-5, 4-6, 10-8
2. Hjertquist def. Jules Rodin, 6-2, 6-1
3. Yergina def. Daniela Depaoli, 6-0, 6-0
4. Burns def. Jacqueline Wong, 6-0, 6-1
5. Leonchuk def. Emma Whitfield, 6-0, 6-0
6. Pietzuch def. Rose Schlecker, 6-2, 6-0
Order of finish: 5,3,4,2,6,1