Undefeated W. Squash teams set for showdown

The undefeated Penn women's squash team faces similarly undefeated Ivy foe Princeton, last year's national champion. The secret weapon for the Penn women's squash team this year is not a hot new recruit or a talented upperclassman coming into her own. The key to victory for this Quakers squad seems to be the magical words hidden beneath the cover of Bartlett's Book of Familiar Quotations. When the team travels to Princeton tonight to take on one of its archrivals, both teams will be putting their perfect 6-0 records and national title hopes on the line. Penn's advantage, however, may lie in the daily inspirations of its coach. Since the beginning of this season, coach Demer Holleran has begun each practice with a short quote designed to light the competitive fire under all her players. According to sophomore Rina Borromeo, the general theme of all these quotes focus on "being bulldogs on the court." They are meant to inspire the Quakers to be tough each time they play a match, whether in practice or competition. "The belief that we can and the desire to do it will make the difference," Holleran said. "One of my expressions of the moment is 'make it happen.' To win a close match you have to be proactive in making that happen. You cannot be neutral and wait to see what happens but cannot make mistakes and be destructive either." Holleran's motivational tactics have proven to be quite effective thus far, but the Quakers (6-0, 3-0 Ivy League) have yet to face an opponent as daunting as the Tigers (6-0, 2-0). Last year, Princeton came to Penn and defeated the Quakers 6-3 on its way to a perfect season and a national championship. With tonight's match taking place at Princeton, it will be especially tough for Penn to pull off its first-ever win over the Tigers. Although a few parents and alumni will make the short trip to support the Quakers, the crowd will decidedly favor the hometown Tigers. "Well, I think everybody likes to play at home, and it effects your concentration a little, too," Holleran said. "You have to be your own cheerleader because you know the crowd is going to be mostly for Princeton. You have to be very determined in your mission and not waver in your thoughts." The talent gap between the two teams is minimal and the result of the match will come down to who does the little things better. The Quakers are aware of this fact and they know that tomorrow is the day they are going to have to pull together everything they have worked on all year. Everything the Quakers have done this season -- the challenge matches, the trip to Europe, the extra training time -- has been in preparation for this match. "When two teams are so close, winning does not really come down to skill -- you are equal in skill," Borromeo said. "It is about who is more patient and does not make the silly mistakes that cost you the important points. It is those mistakes that make the difference between winning and losing." The Quakers are well aware of the magnitude of this match. From the moment the schedule came out, this was one of the matches that all the Penn players circled in bright red ink. Last year some of the Quakers felt that the team put too much focus on one or two big matches and that caused a few of the players to get nervous and not play their best. Penn hoped to alleviate this problem by trying to focus on the entire season instead of zeroing in on specific matches. This attempt, however, proved futile. There is no getting around the fact that this match carries a special significance for the Quakers. "We are trying to taper a little bit more and take it easy today -- eating right, sleeping right, thinking how to play our best squash," Holleran said. "There are a few times during the season when we need to peak for a match and tomorrow is one of them."