Howe Cup time has come

Attention sports fans: the moment you've all been waiting for is right around the corner. Forget March Madness, because this weekend will be as mad as it gets. It will keep you on the edge of your seat; you won't be able to sleep all weekend. It's the most prestigious event in all collegiate athletics. You guessed it?it's time for the Howe Cup. Tomorrow, Quaker coach Demer Holleran will lead her Quakers to New Haven, Conn., to play in the second division of the finals of women's squash. The Quakers are pumped and ready to go. "We have a good shot to win," Holleran said. "I hope the team plays aggressively and plays with determination. If we do that, we have a good chance to beat these teams." The Quakers will face Wesleyan, Middlebury, Connecticut College and Amherst this weekend. In other words, they will play five matches in two days. Senior co-captain Wendy Sullivan believes the make-or-break match will be against Williams. "Williams was really good last year," Sullivan said. "We haven't seen them play [this year]. But we've been working hard and playing well." Another challenging match will be against Amherst, which Penn defeated earlier in the season. "We already beat them," Holleran said, "but they had some injured players at that point." Despite the competition, the Quakers are gunning for a tournament victory, which would place them at least seventh in the country, an improvement from last year's ninth-place finish. Naturally, the team has been spending the last few weeks practicing with intensity. "We've been working a lot on kill shots to the back of the court, trying to move to the ball a little quicker, and match play," Holleran said. Sullivan believes the last few weeks of practice will be important for this weekend's tournament. "When you play competitive squash, having good shots isn't enough," Sullivan said. "You have to put the ball in the most strategic places so your opponent hits a bad shot or sets you up." Whether or not they "put the ball in the most strategic places," most of the young Penn squad has never played in this tournament and, consequently, will not know what to expect. "It takes a lot of concentration and relying on yourself," Holleran said. "[You need] all the things you've worked on over the season to be victorious." The Quakers obviously have been working toward this weekend for the entire season. Nevertheless, the Howe Cup gets little publicity: Las Vegas bookies won't work any harder and the major television stations will continue to air cheezy Saturday afternoon movies. Nevertheless, the Quakers will put everything they have into the Howe Cup and attempt to improve on last season's finish.