W. Squash has trio of matches

Playing without their number one player for the last four matches, the members of the the Penn women's squash team pulled through in the clutch and won some hard-fought matches. Defeating Wesleyan and Vassar on November 19-20 and Haverford on Wednesday, the Quakers proved that they can win some difficult matches. The team, however, lost to Trinity on the weekend of November 20. Despite the defeat, the Quakers held their own against last year's third-best team. Beating the non-Ivy League teams is important in order to have a successful season, as the Ivy matches are always difficult. "It's always nice to get off to a winning start," senior co-captain Wendy Sullivan said. "It's a good way to start off the season." "I think we performed very well particularly under the pressure of not having the number one [player]," Quaker coach Demer Holleran said. Senior Aimee La Gorce suffered a hamstring injury before the Vassar match and her condition is day-to-day. Playing without La Gorce, some of the younger Quakers have stepped up and proved worthy of the challenge. Competing at the No. 4 position, freshman Elissa Helt won each of her last four matches. Sophomore Katy Textor won three of her four matches. "I was very impressed how we played, especially against Vassar and Wesleyan," Wendy Sullivan said. "I was impressed how people pulled through." Sophomore Dahlia Aronson felt that "pulling through" without the top-seeded player is a challenge for the rest of the team. "It's very difficult knowing that you're playing a position higher than you should be," Aronson said. Despite her apprehensions, Aronson won her matches against Vassar, Wesleyan and Haverford. Aronson felt that La Gorce's attendance at all of the away matches helped her and the rest of the team win some tough contests. "Aimee was a good support for us," Aronson said. "It's nice knowing you have someone cheering for you." Holleran feels that, besides the support from La Gorce, the depth of the team's talent allowed for the three wins. "One of our great strengths of our team is that we're really solid down low [in the seedings]," Holleran said. This weekend the Quakers will compete against Amherst (tomorrow, 1 p.m.), Yale (tomorrow, 5 p.m.) and Brown (Sunday, 11 a.m.) at the friendly confines of Ringe Courts. Holleran wants the team to know that they are capable of having a winning weekend. The Quakers know this, however, as they have won their last two matches by identical 9-0 shutouts. "We're looking more confident and composed on the courts," Holleran said. "People on our team are realizing that making a real effort for every single point is going to win matches." Aronson feels that their "real effort" will help the Quakers have another winning weekend. "We need to know that we can beat our [opponents]," Aronson said. "We need to go into [this weekend] knowing that we're able to beat them and that [these matches] are not out of our reach." In order for their matches to be in their reach, the Quakers will need to have another clutch performance in case La Gorce's condition does not improve. Holleran feels that Penn has a legitimate shot at defeating Amherst and Brown. Yale, however, will be a difficult match as the Elis are among the top three teams in the country. Sullivan, however, refuses to give up. "I think the main thing we need to work on is not getting intimidated," Sullivan said. With their spectacular performances under pressure, indeed the Quakers have proven that they too are a force to be reckoned with.