Home Ivy matches on tap for W. Squash

Harvard and Dartmouth show up in Philadelphia for the Quakers' first home Ivy weekend of the season. In years to come, when the Penn women's squash team looks back on their 1996-97 season, they will really be looking back on the result of this coming weekend. Coming into the weekend undefeated and ranked third in both the nation and the Ivy League, the Quakers have a lot on the line. The Ivy League showdown starts Saturday at Penn's Ringe Squash Courts, as the Quakers (5-0, 2-0 Ivy League) face off against Harvard (3-0, 2-0) and continues Sunday as Penn takes on Dartmouth (8-1, 1-1). After finishing last weekend with two consecutive 9-0 wins against Amherst and Williams, the Quakers have built up momentum that should carry into the weekend. Against Amherst, Penn's top seed, sophomore Jessica DiMauro, defeated Harriet Ells (3-0). During their previous meeting at the Constable Invitational, which took place over the break, Ells became the first player to take a game from DiMauro this year. "If you looked at the scores over the matches, it looks like we pretty much killed both teams," said Penn sophomore Amanda Bradford, the No. 8 seed. "Basically, we had really good matches. We did not get to cocky beforehand. We went into it seeing what we could do." The task for the Quakers this weekend is two-fold. Penn has a chance to defeat Harvard, a team against whom the Quakers have only won one individual match out of the 90 that have been played in their dual competions in the past decade, including a 9-0 lost last year. "The key point in trying to beat Harvard is getting totally psyched up and going for it," Quakers head coach Demer Holleran said. "We have to play above ourselves. Really good players save their best playing for competition. If our team is willing to rise to the occasion, then we have a chance to beat them." Last year the Quakers slipped by the Big Green with a 5-4 win in their dual match meeting only to fall later in the season at the Howe Cup team championship. This year the teams have played a few common opponents. Although both teams decisively defeated Amherst, Dartmouth's only loss came to Yale, a team Penn beat 5-4. Although Penn is favored to defeat Dartmouth, Holleran feels that the match against Dartmouth will have a greater impact on their season. With a loss Penn could fall out of third-position in the nation. "From my perspective as a coach, I want the team to focus on defeating Dartmouth because that secures our ranking," Holleran said. "Dartmouth has tremendous depth. They always are fighters. They never quit. They look like they would be easy to beat but never are." With a season that has sporadic scheduling of dual matches, it will be important for the Quakers to be ready. "Right now we are really focusing," Bradford said. "All of the alumni are coming back. We are going to have more people on the squash courts than we have ever had. These are the two biggest matches of the season."