W. Squash tours Europe

Although the Penn women's squash team did ring in the new year in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, they did not make the trip merely to party in the infamous Red Light District on the biggest night of the year. In an effort to bring the University its first women's national squash title in the program's 22 years, the Quakers took advantage of the winter break to travel to Holland and Germany for 12 days of intense squash training from December 30-January 10. The team (5-0, 3-0 Ivy League) visited Dusseldorf, Germany, for seven days and spent another three in Amsterdam in addition to two travel days. "We had a chance to forget about everything else and just concentrate on squash," junior Katie Patrick said. "We did not have the concerns that are typically a part of everyday life. When we are here on campus, we have classes and other distractions and it is hard to focus all your energy on squash. You always have the paper you have to write or something else in your life in the back of your mind." The Quakers divided its time between training on its own and playing in non-NCAA sanctioned matches. They competed against European club teams and were even fortunate enough to get an opportunity to play against some professional squash players on several occasions. The team not only spent time working directly on their squash games, but they also focused much of their attention on conditioning, a key factor that often is overlooked. "Some people got a little nagging injuries. There was a pulled muscle here and there, and someone had to sit out a day and rest it, but there was nothing serious that will keep anyone from playing any part of the season," Holleran said. "I just think it was a sign that they were working hard and giving their all everyday." Coach Holleran believes that this trip will help everyone start off the second half of the year strong so that the Quakers can pick up right where they left off when the semester ended. The second half of the season will be critical to the team's success as it faces its two toughest Ivy League rivals -- Princeton and Harvard. The Tigers and Crimson are also the only two teams ranked ahead of Penn in the nation. While the trip was intended to help the Quakers separate themselves from the distractions of everyday life in order to focus on squash, the team was also given some free time to have fun and explore the historic cities they visited. "I went in without any expectations because our last trip [to Canada] was really squash-oriented, and while this trip was squash-oriented also, we still had time to explore Amsterdam, see Dusseldorf," senior co-captain Lindsay Moss said. "We even took a day trip to Cologne, Germany." On a team that had minor difficulties bonding earlier this season, the trip was also an opportunity for the athletes to really get to know one another. Before this, the most time this group had ever spent together was two days. Holleran is not asking everyone on the team to be best friends, but the consensus seems to be that in order for this team to reach its full potential everyone must be on the same page supporting one another. "We played a lot of squash and did a lot of things that we could not have done over break otherwise," Moss said. "We had double practices and lots of fitness stuff. The first thing we did every morning was play squash, then we'd have some free time to relax, and then we'd come back and play some more squash." This trip was not only a unique cultural experience for the Quakers, but it was also the most intensive training the Quakers will go through all year. Every member of the team was able to get five matches in during the 10 days abroad, which Holleran hopes will have ready to go when the season reopens this weekend against Trinity. "It was a real luxury to have been able to take a trip to Europe that Penn paid for," Holleran said. "It was a nice opportunity that most of these girls would not have otherwise had."