The women's squash team heads to Princeton with a much different team than last year's squad. In the race for second place in the Ivy League, the Penn women's squash team finds itself traveling to a heated dual match today against its arch-nemesis, Princeton. In what should be one of their closest matches of the year, the Quakers (6-1, 3-1 Ivy League) hope to avenge a 7-2 dual match loss to the Tigers (7-1, 4-1) last year. A victory would give Penn its best Ivy League finish in school history. After going 1-1 two weekends ago, losing to Harvard and then coming back to defeat Dartmouth, the Quakers have spent the past nine days preparing for Princeton and the Howe Cup Invitational coming up this weekend. Princeton is coming into the match after defeating Yale this weekend 8-1. Earlier in the year, Penn narrowly defeated the Elis 5-4. Although Princeton is ranked second in the national coaches poll, one place in front of Penn, with so many new faces on both sides of the court this year, the outcome is unpredictable. Last year in the Howe Cup, Princeton defeated the Quakers only 5-4, with three of the four Quakers that recorded those wins returning. This year, both teams' losses came against Harvard, the Quakers lost 7-2 while the Tigers were only defeated 5-4. "We thought we were going to get blown away by Princeton, but now we have a little hope, knowing Harvard beat them," Penn freshman Katie Patrick said. "It will be tough to beat them, but I think we can at least give them a run." With the importance of the upcoming match against Princeton and the tournament this weekend, Penn coach Demer Holleran met with the players and coaches Wednesday to discuss things the team needed to improve during the remainder of the season. "I think part of the reason to talk about the goals and some of the things we want to work on is to re-emphasize practicing with heart," Holleran said. "The way you practice often indicates how you are going to play." The players, realizing the need for improvement, felt the talk helped center their focus on the late-season stretch, especially in today's match against Princeton. "She mentioned something about each and every one of us," Quakers sophomore Dana Lipson said. "We did not need a fluffy talk, we needed someone to come down on us and tell us what to fix, no beating around the bush anymore. Everyone is more disciplined now." Calling a mandatory practice on Sunday, Holleran hopes that the Quakers will be able to make all of the changes she suggested. With only three weeks left in the season, including the Howe Cup this weekend and the intercollegiate championships at the end of the month, the Quakers have little room for error. "The team has been doing a pretty good job of rising to the occasion," Holleran said. "They have been winning most of their matches. Hopefully they can rise to the occasion and really play their best squash."
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