Talented freshmen boost W. Squash

With the cold winds of autumn upon us and football season winding down, where can the sports lover turn for athletic excitement? Why the squash courts, of course. This season's Penn women's squash team believes it will bring a lot of excitement, and success, to the Ringe Courts. Fourth-year coach Demer Holleran has assembled a group of players that has caused the Penn program to set some lofty goals. "If we all play very well, we could reasonably be No. 2 in the nation," Holleran said. That would be a jump of seven places, which is perhaps a logical progression in other sports, but a quantum leap in squash. Consider that only 26 schools compete at Penn's level, and it is clear that competition, for players and titles, is fierce. The early results suggest the Quakers are capable of beating anyone -- except Harvard, to whom the championship has already been conceded by everyone. Although nothing official will be played until tomorrow's opening match, the team has already been in action. At the Ivy League scrimmage in Hanover, N.H., Penn went 2-3. The results could easily have been better. Just one match determined a 5-4 loss to Brown. In addition, all six Ivy League schools that play squash are perennial powers. For the team to reach its goals, a superlative effort will be required of all team members, especially the freshmen. First-year players occupy three of the first four positions on the squad. Leading them, and the team, is Jessica DiMauro. DiMauro won the Junior National title, contested annually here at Penn, last year and the year before. In so doing she became exposed to the University and to Holleran. When it came time to pick a school, the native Torontoan came south of the border to Penn. What are her individual goals for the year? "It'd be nice to win the national championship," she said. The second spot belongs to a returnee, Lissa Hunsicker. Last year she was honored in the Ivy League (first-team) and nationally (second-team all-American). Beyond providing leadership to the young team, she has a personal objective: "My individual goal is just to be undefeated at No. 2. I think I could," she said. Since freshmen Dana Lipson and Lindsay Moss fill the third and fourth slots, the Quakers have the advantage of experience in the lower positions. All nine matches in a squash meet count equally, so being top-heavy in talent is no help to the overall effort. Fitness and mental preparation are on the practice docket in the waning days of the preseason. Both are crucial. It takes more than just stepping on the court and swinging an oddly-shaped racquet to take three out of five nine-point sets. "It's so important in squash to be [mentally] on top of your game. You could be going well and get a call from your ex-boyfriend?," Hunsicker said. For the team to excel, everyone must contribute. The onus of leadership will fall, as it always does, on the best players. "We [the leaders] have to make sure we motivate the rest of the team because I think we could be better than before," DiMauro said. In just two more days, the Quakers' task begins with a meet at Vassar College.