DiMauro denied at Constable Invite

Penn junior Jessica Dimauro failed to win, but the team had a strong showing. Penn women's squash player Jessica DiMauro had won the Betty Constable Invitational her first two years of intercollegiate squash and was hungry for a third title. Unfortunately, the Penn junior will have to wait until she becomes a senior for another shot at title No. 3, after falling in the finals to Princeton's No.1, Julia Beaver. The annual tournament, held in Princeton, N.J., is by invitation only and is single elimination. Only the top 16 squash players in the country are invited to compete. Given the bracket of elite players, it is remarkable DiMauro won two consecutive years. It is also not surprising that a three-peat was not in the cards for a player even as talented as DiMauro. On her home court, Beaver not only defeated DiMauro in the final, but also knocked off Penn sophomore Katie Patrick in the semi-final, dismantling the Quakers hopes of another championship. Beaver could have stolen the line right out of the movie Tombstone -- "I've got two guns. One for each of you." Both matches were close the entire way, as the players fought hard for every point. DiMauro described her 3-2 loss as "really long with big shots coming from both sides." "I played okay. I'm not too disappointed," DiMauro said. "I have no regrets. I practiced really hard over break and I'm playing well. I just lost." The Quakers, however, did not come home empty-handed. Three members of the Red and Blue reached the quarter-finals -- DiMauro, Patrick and junior Dana Lipson, raising eyebrows around the Ivy League. Showing why she deserved to be named Second-Team All American last year, Lipson upset Yale No. 1 player Lauren Smith, 3-0 in a first-round match. As the Quakers' No.4 seed, Lipson has had trouble preparing mentally before matches in the past. But in upsetting Yale's top seed, Lipson not only showed how far she has come, but also further emphasized the depth of Penn's lineup. "[Lipson] played some really great drops shots, which previously she hadn't been doing as much as I would have liked," Penn coach Demer Holleran said. "It should make her much more threatening." While Holleran was disappointed not to come away with a tournament victory, she thinks the loss may have been good for DiMauro. "A loss makes you evaluate your own game and make the necessary changes," Holleran said. "It makes you tougher. We need to get match tough." Upcoming matches on January 31 and February 9 against Harvard and Princeton, respectively, will likely determine the team's fate. These perennial powerhouses finished nationally No. 1 and No. 2 last year, and are making another run for the title this season. With the toughest part of their season yet to come, the Quakers have their sights set on one goal -- the Ivy championship --an honor that brings with it a national title. "We'll just have to wait and see," Holleran said. "Anything can happen."