W. Squash suffers setbacks

The Penn women's squash team traveled to Connecticut Saturday hoping to sweep three games and shift the focus homeward for next weekend. With the tough trifecta of Dartmouth, Harvard and Vassar looming on the schedule, the Quakers relished the chance to establish themselves as a legitimate squash powerhouse. After a tumultuous weekend up north, the Quakers left the Constitution State realizing there is still much work to be done. They emerged having lost two out of three matches, including a 5-4 heartbreaker to Amherst. The Red and Blue knew it faced a tough weekend, with three games in two days following a four-hour bus ride Saturday morning. The Quakers stepped directly off the bus to face Williams, only to come away 7-2 losers. Later that afternoon, still despondent from the loss to the Ephs, the resilient Penn squad came back to dominate a weaker Connecticut College team, 9-0. Having split the doubleheader, the Quakers headed into their final game Sunday versus Amherst. They needed a victory both to end the weekend on a high note and re-assert themselves as a premier squash force. The contest was deadlocked at four with only senior Captain Liz Fuss' match left undecided. Fuss took her match to a final fifth-game tiebreaker, only to lose by the slimmest of margins, 10-9. She lost her battle, and Penn dropped the match, 5-4. "Liz played well. She won the first two games decisively," said Penn Coach Demer Holleran, "She served well and hit good cross-court shots, but her opponent had a good backhand drop shot and picked up her game towards the end." The team showed its determination against Amherst. Every match was extremely hard-fought and not one was won or lost in straight sets. "Versus Amherst, we didn't want a repeat of our performance against Williams," freshman sensation Bridget George said. "We were confident and began well." Junior Katy Textor provided one of the highlights in an overall disappointing weekend for the Quakers. She won all three of her matches, including an amazing comeback against Amherst, and remains undefeated for the season. "Katy only lost one game in all three matches," Holleran said. "Her two wins Saturday helped pull us together and put the team in a positive frame of mind for Sunday's match." The Penn squad still has a slim chance to be in the top division of the Howe Cup, the collegiate squash championship. The Quakers need a good run towards the end of the season, including a win in their biggest match of the year against Dartmouth Sunday. The past weekend was an emotional one for a Quaker squad still searching for a tournament spot. "On Sunday you could cut the tension with a knife as we had to fight for every point," George said. "We walked away frustrated."