It was two freshmen, Tara Chawla and Emily Goodwin, who led the Penn women's squash team last weekend up in New England.
The rookies won matches against both Harvard and Dartmouth and led the Quakers to a two game improvement over last year's results in each match, the latter an exciting 5-4 victory.
But an extra two wins this weekend against Trinity (9-1) would still result in a 6-3 defeat, just as it did previously against the Crimson.
"We've played a number of really strong teams recently and our performances have been pretty mixed, up and down the ladder," Penn coach Jack Wyant said. "I don't think we've had a match yet where we've put it all together."
This time, the upperclassmen must step up and get the No. 5 Quakers (8-3, 3-3 Ivy) some points in the top lineup spots.
Against Harvard and Dartmouth, the three Penn juniors finished a lowly 1-5. Junior co-captain Paula Pearson got the sole win, a 3-1 victory over the Big Green's Rebecca Loucks.
It is true that Penn's freshman class has been rather impressive this year, but they will need help to defeat the No. 3 Bantams on Saturday.
Trinity features three women in the top 10 national individual rankings. Pearson is Penn's highest ranked player, at No. 11.
Still, the rookies are a big reason why Wyant thinks a victory is a possibility.
Last year, the coach said, "there was a huge gap in terms of talent that doesn't exist this year," Wyant said "We're capable of a breakthrough, but it's going to require everybody playing well. We can't give away any easy matches."
The Quakers' chances of a winning the Ivy League campaign are now gone, but the team still has one last attempt to defeat a higher ranked team against the Bantams.
In terms of Ivy League competition, Trinity has already defeated Harvard this year and lost a tight match at Yale, 5-4. Penn, on the other hand, managed to win only two points against the Elis in its home match at Ringe Courts.
The match is the last preparation before the Howe Cup begins the following weekend.
"If everyone does their best and we come out with a win, we're definitely going to have that much more confidence going into the final tournament," Pearson said.
However, losing against the third ranked team in the nation is not going to ruin Penn's tournament chances.
"If we don't do as well as we hope, we'd have the attitude of wanting to prove ourselves and do better the following week," Pearson said.
That's essentially the same thing the Quakers will try to do tomorrow after losing to No. 2 Harvard a week ago.
"We're the underdogs, and we're really starting to relish that opportunity," Wyant said.
While it probably won't make a difference in the long run if the Quakers can't overcome the Bantams this weekend, it would certainly be preferable to not go into the Howe Cup having lost three of four.
If Penn is to do well in the tournament next week it will have to defeat a team in the top four. It would be ideal to prove tomorrow that the team can do so.
