W. Squash expects easy win in Ithaca

The Penn women's squash team's match against Cornell should be a piece of cake this Saturday. The Quakers are so confident they will win, that they are sitting three of their top five players. Jessica DiMauro, Katie Patrick, and Rina Borromeo will all get the day off, as the rest of their teammates face Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y., for the first match of the season at Grumman Squash Courts at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. This means that the rest of the Quakers will be playing at a higher position in the lineup than they are used to. Patti Lin, Eliza Jacobs and Lauren Mann, who usually fill the 11, 12, and 13 spots respectively, will all get a chance to start in the varsity lineup. "Since we are all playing up, we have to really keep our heads in it and not get over confident," junior captain Lindsay Moss said. "Otherwise we could lose before we get on the court if we just think we're that much better than them." Cornell's women's squash program is very new, having only been started last year. The Quakers only have played them once before, beating them 10-0 in the Ivy Scrimmage this year. Penn coach Demer Holleran is confident the Quakers can repeat that performance. "Their top two players are about the same level, one of whose game I know pretty well," Holleran said. "I would say her ability is a little bit lower than Lauren Patrizio who will be playing about number 4 or 5 for us." The only thing that might present a problem for the heavily favored Quakers is the size of Cornell's squash courts. In most sports, the court is required to be a standard size, but Cornell is apparently behind the times. The Big Red use standard American squash courts while the rest of the Ivy League uses international courts. The differences in the types of courts are definitely noticeable to the players. The American courts have soft ball markings on them and the side wall comes down a lot lower. Also, they are 2 1/2 feet shorter in width and the tin is lower. The Quakers will attempt to overcome this difference by traveling to Cornell early Friday so they can squeeze a practice in that night. "There is always something a little bit different about the court," Holleran said. "In this case it's pretty obvious, it's the size." Penn made the switch from American courts to international ones in the 1997 off season. Now the Red and Blue play on the new Ringe Courts, a facility with 10 glassback international courts. In addition, there are some colored courts which are specially designed to help with accuracy in practice. Matches are still played on the standard white courts. While the Quakers match against the Big Red should not be a competitive one, at least the different courts will make it a more interesting experience.