Predictable finish for W. Squash

The Quakers won their first two matches before dropping two at the Howe Cup in Princeton, N.J. They went, they saw, they finished respectably. At the end of their roller coaster season, the Penn women's squash team put together a weekend of solid play, finishing fourth at the Howe Cup Invitational. Seeded in the highest division, the Quakers went 2-2, winning their first two matches before dropping their last two. After traveling up to New Haven, Conn., Thursday, the Quakers kept rolling on Friday, winning their first two matches. The Quakers easily defeated Trinity, 6-3 -- the only team in Penn's division that the Red and Blue had not previously played. Later that afternoon, Penn met up with Brown. The Quakers dismantled the Bears for the second time this season, 7-2. For the Quakers, the two wins were a relief. Coming into the tournament last year in a similar predicament, their two losses in the round-robin put them in a playoff for fifth place, not for third like they had hoped. On Saturday, finishing its round-robin play, Penn, without top-seeded sophomore Jessica DiMauro, took the court against Princeton. After being diagnosed with mononucleosis, DiMauro, the reigning intercollegiate champion, sat out the match against the Tigers in order to rest up for the team's match on Sunday. "After Friday, we basically decided that Saturday we were very likely to lose to Princeton," Penn coach Demer Holleran said. "We had lost to them 7-2 that week. Jessica DiMauro was very sick. She had a pulled muscle. She had been diagnosed with mono two days before, and she was really exhausted. We decided that it made sense to rest her and take the pressure off everybody to focus on the match with Yale." Bumping each player on the Quakers side up one spot, the team fell 9-0 to Princeton, the runners-up of the tournament, losing to Harvard in the championship, 5-4. In filling in for DiMauro, freshman Katie Patrick fell to the Tigers' top seed, Katherine Johnson. After winning the first game 9-7, Patrick's concentration was ruined by the sound of the fire alarm, which delayed her match 45 minutes, allowing Johnson time to recover and get back into the match. The loss put the Quakers in the fight for third place with Yale. Coming into the tournament, Holleran felt that with the selection of their grouping, they would find themselves Sunday matching up against the Elis for third place. "It was an intense weekend," Patrick said. "For most of the weekend, we focused in on Sunday. We knew we were not going to beat Princeton, and we were glad when we beat Brown which secured our place in the top four." Earlier in the season, the two teams met, and the Quakers won, 5-4. However, with the addition of Katherine Hennessey filling in the fifth spot for the Elis, the Quakers did not match up as well, losing 6-3. Besides the addition of Hennessey, Holleran also felt that Yale held the upperhand in having the home court advantage. "We felt that our best chance was in the top of the lineup and the bottom of the lineup," Holleran said. "Our hope was to win the five matches from the top three and the bottom three. Yale was a lot tougher that day. To play your fourth match in three days is pretty exhausting. I think as a team for the future, we have to think about how to mentally and physically be better prepared for the last day of a tournament." For the Quakers, the wins came from DiMauro, Patrick and freshman Patti Lin. DiMauro finished the tournament undefeated, beating Yale's Loren Smith, 3-1. Similarly, Patrick remained undefeated as the second seed by blanking the Yale's Priscilla Marshall, 3-0. Lin also battle strong in the fight for third place defeating Yale's Sarah Fayen, 3-1. "It was there, but we were not as psyched as they were," Lin said. "I thought we were all into the game, but Yale was more so. We played well, but Yale was stronger." For a young team experiencing the grueling nature of the Howe Cup, playing four matches in one weekend provides a different atmosphere than the regular season. Although Penn was not able to equal their regular-season ranking of third, the Quakers fought hard. Holleran, however, feels with a young team, the future looks bright.

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