Will they ever be on top?

After four years as the No. 3 team in the country, Penn's women's squash team shoots for No. 1. Fifty-four individual victories. Zero defeats. A dominating performance by a dominating team thus far. All will be for naught, however, if the Penn women's squash team fails to do what 22 previous Quaker teams have been unable to accomplish -- a national title. The team has not dropped a single match this season in compiling an impeccable 6-0 team record, manhandling each opponent 9-0. But Penn's two biggest hurdles of the season, Princeton and Harvard, still remain. In the seven years that coach Demer Holleran has led the Quakers charge, she has taken this team from mediocrity to the brink of greatness. When Holleran took over the job of head coach, she inherited a team that simply hoped to be competitive against its Ivy League rivals. Holleran quickly reshaped this team into one that expected to win every match. With the help of a strong recruiting class in 1995 -- including current co-captains Jessica DiMauro and Lindsay Moss, as well as Dana Lipson and Amanda Bradford -- the Quakers rose to third in the nation during the 1995-1996 season, completing their improbable ascension to the top. It was at this point, however, that the team seemed to hit a wall. Like every previous Penn squad, this group of Quakers has been unable to defeat either the Tigers or the Crimson. Ranked No. 3 in the nation for three consecutive years, the Quakers believe that this may finally be the year that they overtake these two squash giants. "Everyone's level of play has been stepped up this year," freshman Chrissy Eynon said. "It is just more intense this year because everyone is more competitive. It has been getting old, and it is time to get ahead and out of the No. 3 spot." The Quakers nearly exorcised their demons last year, losing to Harvard and Princeton 5-4 and 6-3, respectively. The Tigers and Crimson were the only teams to take a single game from Penn, making this year's team confident about its chances. The Quakers brought back every member of last year's squad and have also added some talented freshmen. Instead of weakening their spirits, these devastating losses to their rivals seem to have strengthened Penn's will to win. While the Quakers hope to benefit from the experience and leadership of its veteran lineup, Harvard and Princeton's key graduation losses also give the Quakers a potential edge. "This year's team is far more dedicated. A lot of them spent this summer training really hard and that? has made the whole lineup so strong and so deep," DiMauro said. "We have a chance to win at any level, and last year I would not have said that. "Everyone was on the team last year when we lost to Harvard 5-4, so we have seen victory right in front of our noses and watched it slip away. I think it made this team hungry. Instead of dwelling on [the loss] everyone worked really hard in the offseason and came back ready to win those close matches this time around." Should the Quakers lose these matches once again, it would be especially devastating to the four seniors who have guided Penn's flight to the top these past four years. Three years ago, this year's seniors came in and helped a Quaker team ranked ninth the previous year jump six spots to No. 3. They never believed that they would end their careers in that same position. Though they have already left an indelible legacy, a national championship is their ultimate goal. "I would be pretty disappointed if we came in third again. After four years of wanting to win, it would definitely be bad if we could not win this year. I would feel that I hadn't accomplished my goals," DiMauro said. "Some people would not like the pressure, but personally, I would love it if the match were tied 4-4 and I had to go on to win it all." But Penn's inability to finish ahead of Princeton and Harvard has not affected its recruiting. Holleran believes that recruiting comes down instead to differences between the three schools themselves, not their squash programs. Holleran's teaching methods are also an incentive to come to Penn. "One thing I do that other coaches do not is spend a lot of individual time on the court with my players. Especially for a very talented player it is very important for them to get that one-on-one attention," said Holleran, a member of the U.S. National team since 1990. "The fact that I'm a woman player who can beat all my players is also an advantage in selling our program because I can really push them." Whether the undefeated individual match streak continues is really only secondary to this team that has come so close so many times. Although the Quakers use their streak as motivation each time they step on the court, their primary goal remains to end the season with a zero in the loss column and a "1" next to their ranking. "I hope that if [the seniors] feel frustration they do something to change the situation and deal with it actively," Holleran said. "It is one thing to feel frustration and quite another to make your own destiny. These seniors have an opportunity to create their own destiny."