Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the women's tennis team showed its two sides in the first matches of the season.

Penn State started the weekend strong, beating American University 5-2 before getting pounded by the University of Pennsylvania 7-0.

The Nittany Lions opened against AU Friday by winning all three doubles matches.

Juniors Maaria Husain and Jessica McKeown won the No. 1 doubles 8-6, while senior Leigh Ann Merryman teamed up with freshman Sasha Abraham to win 8-5.

Merryman continued Penn State's winning trend in the singles, beating Kristina Georgieva 6-2, 7-5 in the No. 1 match.

"Leigh Ann got everyone excited the way she won that singles match fairly easily," Penn State women's tennis coach Buffy Baker said.

With McKeown and Abraham unavailable for singles due to injuries this weekend, Penn State needed help from some of their younger players to pull out victories.

Freshmen Katelyn BeVard and Kristine Harclerode won their first college matches, playing in the No. 5 and 6 spots.

"They really came out and executed, which is what we needed them to do," Baker said.

BeVard's victory, combined with Husain's 6-3, 7-5 victory over Katarina Kollarova, secured a Penn State victory against AU.

Though some players struggled in the singles matches, Baker was pleased with how the team played overall.

"I think we got some of the first match jitters out of the way and came out strong," Baker said.

That strength appeared to be gone on Saturday, as the team faltered at Penn, not winning a single match against the Quakers.

Only a day after winning the doubles against AU, Penn State lost all three doubles matches at Penn.

"It was ridiculous, there was no reason we should have been swept like that," Baker said.

In the singles matches the Lions didn't fair any better.

Merryman lost to Nikky Ptak in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, in the No. 1 singles spot.

"Some of us didn't show up and that's unacceptable," Baker said.

Junior Sarah Spence, who struggled on Friday, and Husain managed to stretch their matches out to a third set before losing. Saturday's match was a "reality check" for the team and Baker says she expects this week's practices to be tough.

"I think we came into the match a little tentative and when you face competition like Penn, they'll take advantage of it," Baker said.