W. Squash finishes fourth in Howe Cup

The Penn women's squash team was ready for a rematch. After dropping a tight 5-4 decision to Dartmouth last week, the Quakers were able to avenge their loss when they faced the Big Green on Friday in the opening round of the Howe Cup. "It felt great," Penn coach James Martel said. "It's always nice to have revenge -- revenge is sweet." Penn sophomore Rohini Gupta was also pleased with the Quakers' win over Dartmouth, and emphasized Penn's improvement throughout the season. "It's great to beat a team that you haven't before," Gupta said. "We played strong all the way through, and going into this I thought we even had a chance at the Howe Cup." The Howe Cup -- the national team squash championship -- featured 29 teams competing in four flights, including all eight Ivies and defending champion No. 1 Trinity College, who once again claimed the cup. In the quarterfinals, senior co-captain Runa Reta led a 4-0 sweep of the Big Green in the top four spots, while Gupta clinched the win for the Quakers at No. 6, defeating Canadian freshman Jessica Vyrostko. That win allowed Penn to advance 5-4. After eking by the Big Green, the Quakers faced an even bigger challenge when they went head-to-head with No. 1 Trinity who had already handed them an 8-1 loss earlier this season. After defeating the defending national champion Amina Helal earlier in the season and losing once to her as well, Reta could not hold off Trinity's No. 1 in their much-anticipated rubber match. The Quakers did not recover from the fall of their No. 1, as they fell in the semifinals to Trinity 9-0. "We played them tough," Martel said. "Even though we lost 9-0, about three of the matches were close." In the consolation match the Quakers fell, 7-2, to No. 3 Harvard, falling to fourth place in the tournament. "We did alright," Martel said. "We lost 7-2, but two of the games were 3-2, and two were 3-1. We played them tough. "By that point everyone was tired and sore, but we played really well. We beat everyone [ranked] below us and lost to those above us. It was just good to get in some really good matches." This weekend was the last time the Quakers will play together as a team this season. The only event left on the Quakers' schedule is the intercollegiate individual tournament. The Quakers wrapped up this season with a 9-4 record overall (3-3 Ivy) and a fourth place finish at the Howe Cup. "The season was good," Martel said. "Before we started the season our goal was to make it into the top eight. "But when we realized that we were improving really quickly and that the freshmen were doing so well we worked towards a top-four finish.To jump four spots this season was really exciting. It's a sign that our program is moving forward and that our freshmen are really talented."

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