W. Squash reserves get rare court time

The Quakers will rest their top players against a weaker Franklin & Marshall squad. Playing on a team stocked with some of the top squash players in the nation, many Quaker freshmen like Alex Black find themselves anxiously waiting their turn to get in on the action. When the Penn women's squash team takes on Franklin & Marshall at the Ringe Courts today, it will be an opportunity for those players who typically just roam the sidelines to showcase their talent on the court. The transition from junior squash to the college level of the game is a big one and Penn coach Demer Holleran hopes that this opportunity will help those less experienced players adjust. Despite the talent that No. 14 Black showed while playing squash for the Winsor School in Massachusetts, she has yet to play a match as a Quaker. Watching others play isn't only reserved for freshmen. Players such as juniors Lauren Mann and Patricia Lin are also waiting for their chance to break into the lineup. With only nine spots available for each match, Holleran often finds herself in the envious position of having too much talent and too few spots available. The top spots are typically reserved for the most experienced players on the Quaker squad (2-0, 2-0 Ivy League). Because Franklin & Marshall is one of the weakest teams on the Quakers schedule -- they lost to Penn 9-0 last season -- Holleran is holding out four of the top nine starters. No. 1 Katie Patrick and No. 2 Jessica DiMauro will most likely be two of the players that Holleran decides to rest. This gives the players in spots 10 through 14 one of those rare opportunities to play. "The more matches you get the better you get experience wise, and this is really helpful in the big matches," sophomore Megan Fuller said. "The more matches you have under your belt the more confidence you have. "I remember during my freshman season that I felt a lot of pressure early on just because you are carrying more weight as part of a team. As a freshman you put more pressure on yourself because you don't want to let down the team." Unfortunately for these players, no matter how spectacularly they play it is going to take more than one impressive match against a second rate opponent to break into the starting lineup. In Holleran's program a player cannot lose her spot because she was not in the lineup. Although she admits that dominant play will get her attention, she is not inclined to change her starting lineup because of one great day. It takes high quality play at a consistent level to become a regular in the top nine. "It's an opportunity for those lower players to show me how well they are doing," Holleran said. "However, they still have to prove themselves in challenge matches and put in a lot of work at practice." For the rest of the Quakers this match is little more than an opportunity to practice against fresh faces. "I think that this match is a good opportunity to work on the things that you are weak on," Fuller said. "It is a good chance to work on your offensive skills and attacking game." The biggest challenge of the match for Penn will be overcoming the after effects of a long weekend over the Thanksgiving holiday. The team's first practice since November 24 was this past Monday, and they have to get their intensity back quickly. However, the Quakers do not think that this will be too big of a problem. Most of the team practiced on their own over the break. "The big matches this week are away at Yale and Brown on Saturday and Sunday respectively," Holleran said. "I intentionally scheduled this match before those two in order to get the team back in match mode so that Thanksgiving is not a liability when we go to the big matches." The other thing the Quakers will have to overcome is maintaining their high level of play and intensity against an inferior opponent. "Sometimes it is hard to play people of lower ability because your game can change completely," freshman Blair Morris said. "It can throw your game off if you are used to playing at a certain level." Holleran always takes this match very seriously for personal reasons. In her first year as coach at Penn, Franklin & Marshall came down from Lancaster, Pennsylvania and defeated the Quakers 5-4. "In the years since that we've gotten a lot stronger, and they've gotten weaker," Holleran said, "but for those of us that remember that defeat it is always really nice to beat them."