The Princeton Invitational was just what the doctor had ordered for the Lady Lions' Tammy Okins-Nguyen and Kerri Kohr.

Both Okins-Nguyen and Kohr were winless at 0-3 in both doubles and singles competition after facing a brutal opening schedule. A frustrating start for a pair who is used to winning, even if it was against the Big Ten's three best teams.

But at the Princeton Invitational last weekend, their luck finally began to change.

Okins-Nguyen won the consolation championship for the singles competition while Kohr advanced to the quarterfinals. In doubles, the pair won the consolation bracket.

Okins-Nguyen lost a nail-biter in the first round to Princeton's Hilary Pushkin 7-5, 6-4, but responded by winning four consecutive matches to take the consolation title, defeating Harvard's Erika Elmuts 4-6, 7-6, 6-3.

"I did much better than I expected," Okins-Nguyen said. "I didn't expect to win a match," she said, jokingly referring to her frustrating start.

Okin-Nguyen's performance at Princeton evened her season singles record at 4-4.

"I feel so much better now," she said after picking up a few wins. "I feel like everything's finally coming together now."

Kohr blasted Kristen Malmburg of Trenton State 6-0, 6-0 in her first round singles match before dropping a close 7-6, 6-3 match to Princeton's Katie Evashevski in the quarterfinals.

In doubles, Kohr and Okins-Nguyen turned in a strong effort in capturing the the consolation championship.

Kohr and Okins-Nguyen were stunned by eastern rival Syracuse in a close first round match, narrowly losing 6-7, 6-0, 4-6.

Penn State rebounded to beat Columbia 7-6, 6-1 in the consolation quarterfinals. In the semifinals, the Lady Lions' doubles team dropped former Atlantic 10 rival George Washington 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the consolation title match.

In the championship, Okins-Nguyen and Kohr easily dispatched Rutgers' team of Jamie Greenberg and Roxanne Matkiwsky 6-2, 6-1.

Kohr felt that the Lady Lions early schedule helped prepare them for the Princeton Invitational.

"I think that the first three matches against Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Indiana helped us," Kohr said.

She said that although the she thought the competition at Princeton was good, it wasn't like what they had seen in their first three matches, two of which were against nationally ranked teams.

Kohr also felt that playing close to home helped.

"It was nice to be in a familiar enviornment," Kohr said. "I think that when we were out Midwest, we were a little nervous because the envoirnment is so different."

Notes: Virginia was by far the most successful team at the Princeton Invitational. Cavalier Jen Callen defeated George Washington's Ellen Novoseletsky for the Invitational singles title. Virginia's doubles team of Callen and Kristen Kelper also returned to Charlottesville with a championship trophy. They defeated Yale's Audrey Delancy and Cindy Kuragami in the final, 6-3, 6-2 . . . In both singles and doubles matches, Penn State amassed a 4-0 record against former Atlantic 10 rivals. The Lady Lions also put together a 4-1 record against Ivy League competition.