Squash teams disappoint over long weekend

Women lose to both Harvard and Dartmouth One disappointing weekend can alter the course of a season. This is especially the case in the competitive world of Ivy League women's squash. Unfortunately for the Quakers, it seems that they will now be playing in the second division of the prestigious Howe Cup tournament instead of the first due to their 9-0 loss to Harvard Saturday and their 6-3 loss to Dartmouth the following day. "It was a really tough weekend," Penn junior co-captain Liz Fuss said. "It was a tough loss against Dartmouth because we had to play Harvard first and then turn around and play such an important match against Dartmouth the next day." After a frustrating match against Harvard, the Quakers had a difficult time regaining their fortitude to play with confidence on the courts. Senior co-captain Wendy Sullivan, however, felt that the pressure to play the top-seeded Crimson was less than the lesser-ranked Big Green. "I think that we actually played better against Harvard than we did against Dartmouth," Sullivan said. "It's a lot easier to step up to the competition and play someone who's a lot better than you are." Even within the shutout by Harvard, there were some bright spots. Sophomore Katy Textor came close to winning her match as she battled through a 3-2 loss. The Dartmouth match, however, seemed to have little silver lining beneath the clouds. "We had the talent to win the match, but they took us by surprise how prepared they were," Fuss said. "We underestimated how tough the match would be. Because we had beaten them in the Ivy scrimmages, we thought we could beat them again." Sullivan regrettably agreed. "I think that mainly we weren't focused," Sullivan said. "It seemed that the other team wanted it more. We weren't playing as well as we could have." She did, however, add that the Dartmouth match will benefit the younger players as they had only played matches against teams that were much better or much worse than them. "I think it was a big learning experience in terms of preparing ourselves for big, competitive matches," Sullivan said. "It gave us a lot to work for [when playing] against teams that are our equals in playing ability." Although this weekend was disappointing for Penn, the season could still be salvaged. With a victory in the second division of the Howe Cup, the Quakers could still prove they can hold their own against the best teams, even if they're only playing the second-best teams.