DiMauro fails in attempt at second straight title

Penn's top-seeded sophomore squash player was limited due to monoeucleosis. South Bend, Ind. During the event, the spotlight shined on the play of one person, returning champion Jessica DiMauro. Winner of the Constable Invitational, the top-seeded Penn sophomore was heavily favored to repeat, as she came into the tournament with a mark of 15-0 in all matches. DiMauro, afflicted with mononucleosis, knew the road ahead was tough with a talented field. Unfortunately for DiMauro, she realized that the only thing harder than winning Intercollegiates was winning it two years in a row. The weekend started out well for DiMauro, who breezed through the rounds of 64, 32 and 16. In the quarterfinals, DiMauro unexpectedly met Princeton's Blair Irwin, who defeated Trinity's top seed, Gail Davie. After defeating Irwin 10-8, 9-1, 9-2, DiMauro moved on to the semifinals for the rematch of last year's championship against Harvard's Ivy Pochoda. After defeating her two times already this year, the third one was equally a charm as DiMauro rolled on, winning in four games. "Against Ivy Pochoda, Jessica played some of her best squash of the tournament," Holleran said. "Jessica was really fired up and dominated that match. She felt that Ivy was more of a threat to her than Katherine in the final." Then on the final day of the tournament came the final match of the year. In the matchup of No. 1 versus No. 2, DiMauro found herself in a match against Princeton's top player, senior Katherine Johnson. Not only would it be Johnson's last career match but also her best. After losing to DiMauro in the finals of the Constable Invitational in January and again in their dual match in February, the tide turned in March. Johnson jumped all over the nervous DiMauro, defeating her in a five-game battle 9-1, 9-6, 4-9, 5-9, 9-4. "I was not up for the match," DiMauro said. "I was so relieved that I had beaten Ivy that I had not paid attention that I still had to play another match. I can't figure it out." Also along for the ride was freshman Katie Patrick, who compiled a 12-0 record while playing in the second spot for the Quakers this year. Patrick also won her matches in the rounds of 64 and 32. After defeating Yale's Edie Sonne 9-6, 9-1, 3-9, 9-6, Patrick met Lindsay Wilbur of Harvard. During the five-game match, Patrick kept trying to come back, but in the end it was too late. For the tournament, Patrick finished in the 13-through-16 grouping. "The match I lost to Wyant was a mental lapse," Patrick said. "I started thinking too many things and got nervous and lost. After that it was hard to get going again." The tournament ended sophomore Dana Lipson's year on a positive note. In the round of 16, Lipson met up with her rival, Princeton's Elise O'Connell. O'Connell outfought Lipson, winning 9-7, 9-6, 9-4. Moving into the consolation bracket, Lipson won two matches, placing her in a match against Davie. Davie quickly put ended Lipson's tournament. "I have always had an ongoing thing with O'Connell since juniors, so I was excited to play her," Lipson said. "When I played Marshall I wasn't nervous and could hit my drop shots. Against Davie it took me too long to get into it." Also representing the Quakers at the tournament were sophomore Lindsay Moss and freshman Patti Lin. Moss improved on last year's performance winning her first match. Following her victory, Moss lost to Brown's Devon Kennedy and then again to Yale's Marion Ringel. Lin lost her first match to Dartmouth's Jenny Johnson, but came back to defeat Franklin and Marshall's Kate Crimi in consolations. Middlebury's No. 1 Betsy Dripps ended Lin's weekend, defeating her 9-5, 9-4, 9-0.

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