Helt's late win carries W. Squash over Big Green

Squash alumni gathered to support the Quakers. For the people that think squash can not inspire passions, ask Elissa Helt, captain of the Penn women's squash team. Yesterday, Helt ended the weekend on a winning note for the Quakers in front of the Penn alumni crowd, as she came back from one game down to beat Dartmouth freshman Lindsey Rhoads in a grueling four-game match, 5-9, 9-2, 9-5, 9-3. Similar to last year's result, the win gave Penn (6-1, 3-1 Ivy League) a 5-4 victory over Dartmouth (7-3, 1-3). The morning started out with an onslaught of Quakers wins, including three of the first four that finished. However, Dartmouth's depth at the bottom of the lineup pulled the match back to 4-4, setting the stage for the Helt and Rhoads showdown. However, neither player knew that her match would be the decisive one. Although Helt did not realize the significance of her match at the time, her experience and determination allowed her to come back and ruin the Big Green's chances of an upset. "I think Elissa is one of the most competitive people I have met," Holleran said. "She plays extremely well when everyone is watching and the pressure is on." Earlier yesterday morning, a trio of Penn sophomores -- Jessica DiMauro, Dana Lipson, Lindsay Moss -- and freshman Katie Patrick all won their matches. DiMauro and Patrick continued their dual-match undefeated streaks by knocking off their opponents in straight sets. Lipson came out in a flurry, shutting out Jenny Johnson in the first two games, allowing her only five total points (all in the last game). After a season of ups and downs, including a loss the day before, Lipson hopes the win will give her a fresh start. "I was in a mind slump," Lipson said. "My sister helped me get out of it. She said to forget about everything on your mind and just think about playing squash and being a competitor on the squash court." In a key early match, Moss turned her game around to come back from a two-game deficit to Dartmouth junior Jen Karlen, winning in five games, 8-10, 6-9, 9-5, 10-8, 9-4. Holleran regarded Moss as a fighter after she stayed in the match and turned back five points that would have given Karlen the win. For Penn, the win yesterday came after their first defeat Saturday by the defending national champions, Harvard (4-0, 3-0). The 7-2 defeat was also the best the Quakers had fared against the Crimson in over a decade. Last year's Penn captain and second-team All-American recipient Lissa Hunsicker was surprised by the exciting play of her former teammates. "I think they played really well," Hunsicker said. "Harvard is untouchable. Penn's team is one of the only two teams that can touch Harvard. Even getting two or three matches off Harvard is huge." The wins for the Quakers came again for DiMauro and Patrick. Although it took DiMauro four games to defeat Harvard top seed Ivy Pochoda, she never lost control of the match. The Crimson's Stephanie Teaford gave Patrick a run for it as the match lasted five games, but Patrick came out on top. Unlike previous years, Harvard coach Bill Doyle went through large efforts in preparing his team for Saturday's match. Doyle remembered the surprise the Quakers gave him last year and did not want to take any risks this year. "I was expecting Penn to be really tough," Doyle said. "We had been looking forward to the weekend for a long time. Coming in if we did not train properly, we were going to have a rough time."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.