Quakers finish third in Howe Cup's second division After five games, four days, three wins and two losses, the Penn women's squash team emerged exhausted yet missing one thing -- their third consecutive Howe Cup. So second-division cups from the last two years sit lonely on the desk of coach Demer Holleran's desk as reminders of past triumphs. The roster of this year's squad and the addition of next year's recruits are indicators of future successes. Unfortunately for the Quakers, this equation does not account for the the present. This past weekend's Howe Cup indicates the present needs some improvement. The Quakers finished a disappointing third in the tournament's second division in New Haven, Conn. The Red and Blue beat Bowdoin, Colby and Franklin & Marshall, but they lost grudge matches against rivals Dartmouth and Amherst to finish 3-2 on the weekend. "It was a grueling weekend," freshman Bridget George said. "We poured out all our emotions and could not have played harder." Penn entered the Howe Cup seeded third after close 5-4 defeats to Dartmouth and Amherst earlier this year. With dreams of Howe Cup glory on their minds and hopes of vengeance in their hearts, the Quakers headed to Yale last Thursday for the Howe Cup, the women's intercollegiate squash championship. With a victory in the second division, the Penn squad would have equaled last year's seventh place finish overall. Penn looked to eradicate memories of a difficult season with a strong finish and Howe Cup success, but rematches against their two rivals proved fruitless. Two close losses, 6-3 to Amherst and 5-4 to Dartmouth, left the Quakers ranked third in their division and ninth overall. "The loss hurts," sophomore Katherine Viener said. "But after putting aside my emotion and anger, I am proud of our team because we fought as hard as possible." While the weekend did not provide salvation for the Red and Blue, several individual victories helped make the trip worthwhile. A match previewed as "the bloodiest match ever" proved to be just that. Junior Jenna Bertocchi, who in the third game was one Dartmouth serve away from defeat, came back to win that game and the following two as well to defeat her Dartmouth nemesis, 3-2. "I give Jenna so much credit for fighting it out," Holleran said. "She showed courage and determination in rising to the occasion for the win." Bertocchi went 4-1 on the weekend, as did sophomore Elissa Helt, senior captain Liz Fuss, and George. Junior Katy Textor went 5-0 on the weekend as the only Quaker to go undefeated. She not only won every match, she won each individual game, finishing all five matches with resounding 3-0 scores. Viener had several long, hard-fought matches including 3-2 wins over Colby and F & M. A heartbreaking loss for George made the team's agonizing defeat to Dartmouth hurt even more. She lost the match by the slimmest of margins, 3-2, and lost the fifth and final set by an excruciatingly close score of 9-7. While George may have not won the match, she announced her presence to the Penn faithful and asserted herself as a force for years to come. "Bridget had to work hard," Holleran said. "She played a solid match and staked her place in collegiate squash." The Quakers lose only one player -- Fuss -- to graduation, and they hope to return their top six seeds next year and improve on this year's ninth-place finish. "Although we didn't have a bang-up success at the end of the season, everyone improved so that we came together to be a great unit," Holleran said. "It is sad to see the growing, learning, and developing end, but I feel we have built something for next year." "Next year is our year to dominate," George said.
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