W. Squash hosts lowly Haverford

After an 11-day lay-off, the Penn women's squash team returns to action against Haverford at 4 p.m. today on the Ringe Courts. For the Quakers (3-0), the match should not present a great problem. As has been the policy against particularly weak opposition this season, some of Penn's top players will be rested. This time, five of the nine regular starters will have the day off, giving many alternates a chance to pick up match experience. "It'll be good experience for the bottom half of the team going into the weekend matches," said Penn coach Demer Holleran, alluding to this weekend's Ivy League openers against Brown and Yale. "They're a very sad team...We're gearing up for the weekend," co-captain Katy Textor said. Even though the year is just underway, this is the final week of play in 1995. With nothing to work on but fitness and skills, and no one to play but themselves, the Quakers are squeezing in as much competition as possible. With that in mind, the team held a somewhat unusual practice yesterday. Rather than play each other, the squash team from Springside School, a private girls' high school, was imported. This gave many of the junior varsity and lower level players a chance to play in a pseudo-match. "It's good practice. We play our teammates so often, after half a dozen times we know each other's games so well?We need to be able to play new people," said freshman Emily Lebovitz, one of the alternates who will see action against Haverford. Finding a high school team that could compete, even at a junior varsity level, would be impossible for most sports. But not on the local squash scene. "Philadelphia is great for squash. It is so commonly played," Textor said. "It's good for them. It's good for us." Despite the near certainty that Penn will take its mark to 4-0, the Haverford match holds the potential for tight individual matches, as some players get their initial taste of first-team play. The best chance for Penn's suburban visitors this afternoon is to catch the confident, perhaps overconfident, Quakers by surprise. "Everything counts," the Quakers repeat dutifully. They will be wise to remember it against the Fords today.