W. Squash wins second division of Howe Cup

After three losses forced the Penn women's squash team to play in the second bracket of the Howe Cup, Penn proved it was more than worthy of playing in the first. The Quakers easily swept through their five opponents and won the second division of the Howe Cup at Yale Sunday to finish seventh in the country with a 10-6 record. "We ended the season on a really positive note," Penn sophomore Katy Textor said. "A lot of people played really well, which is great because it's the end of the season." Textor led a squad of five undefeated Quakers over the weekend to pace Penn to victory. She did not drop one game throughout the tournament. Freshman Elissa Helt, junior co-captain Liz Fuss and sophomores Jenna Bertocchi and Dahlia Aronson were also undefeated. The Quakers beat Connecticut 7-2, Amherst 6-3, Wesleyan 9-0, Middlebury 8-1 and Williams 7-2. After the weekend sweep and domination over its competitors, Penn coach Demer Holleran was more than pleased with the performance of her team. "We showed a real maturity level to play well under pressure, something we needed to work on," Holleran said. Despite the team's eventual success at the Howe Cup, the Quakers sustained a scare when Williams took a 2-0 lead in the finals. However, Helt began the Penn turnaround with a 3-0 victory. This win, which cut the Eph lead to just one, was followed by Bertocchi and Fuss victories, which gave the Quakers the lead for good. The team swept the final four matches to seal the victory. Holleran, admittedly, was a bit nervous of the match against Williams even before the weekend. "I was especially concerned about Williams because they had a similar record to us against common opponents," Holleran said. "We were really prepared for our Williams match," Textor said. "Everyone played really well [even though] we were really nervous going into that match." Although Holleran will miss seniors Aimee La Gorce and co-captain Wendy Sullivan –– the No. 1 and No. 2 seed respectively, the stunning tournament performance has Holleran extremely excited for next year. "I think learning to compete and play well under pressure is a tough lesson for a young team to learn," Holleran said. "I feel particularly fortunate that we have a young team and that many of them will be returning." The 1994-95 Quakers will be experienced and hungry for a first-bracket seeding after two straight second division championships. The quest will begin over the off-season. While Holleran will be searching for new recruits, this year's freshmen, sophomores and juniors will be honing their skills. Everyone will be looking forward to next season with one goal in mind -- making the first bracket of the Howe Cup.