On a weekend when half the Penn women's squash team had to play ill, the Red and Blue achieved positive results at Princeton'sConstable Tournament.
A flu-like virus spread through the team over the weekend, affecting the play of many of its members.
"Half of our team felt ill," Penn coach Jack Wyant said. "Our number two, Radhika Ahluwalia, she was pretty ill all weekend. She played her second match, and we almost didn't think she could play."
One player who was not affected ended up as the bright spot of the tournament for the Quakers. Sophomore Caitlin Russell, a transfer from Cornell, was unranked in her bracket but finished in second place. She defeated the second- and third-ranked players before falling to the top seed.
Russell -- who played in the 5.5 bracket, the second-highest level at the Constable Tournament -- surprised many with her upset victories over higher ranked opponents.
"It felt really good. I didn't expect to win, honestly," Russell confessed after the tournament. "I was really scared going into it. I didn't really know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised."
Russell kicked off thetournament with a come-from-behind win against Princeton's Carly Grabowski. Tied at two games apiece, Grabowski brought the game to match point at 8-2. However, Russell turned the close match around and came back to win, 10-8.
"It seemed like a question of who wanted it more," Russell said of her tightest match of the weekend.
"She demonstrated to herself that she could have success and that she could win tight matches," Wyant said.
"Until this last weekend, she's been a little bit of an unknown quantity," he added. "I think that the self confidence that she may have gained over the weekend will help her out for the remainder of the season and beyond."
Russell was, for the most part, an enigma until this weekend since her transfer from Cornell this fall. Although athletes who play NCAA sanctioned sports must sit out a season after transferring, Russell is able to play this season because squash is not sanctioned by the NCAA. But it was unclear where the sophomore would fit in on the Quakers squad, which is much deeper than the Big Red's.
"She played No. 1 for Cornell last year, and Cornell is a bit further down in the rankings, so kind of off a lot of people's radar screens," Wyant said.
"At No. 1 she had incredibly stiff competition, so often times when you're playing the very best players from other schools, it's difficult to get into the match, to really make it competitive. She was playing against the top kids in the country."
Russell has found the middle of the Quakers' ladder to be a much more comfortable spot. She has had increasing success due to better competition in practice, and more even matches in which she can compete.
"It's so much better," Russell said of playing for Penn. "It's so different being on a better team."
Russell's success with the Quakers peaked this weekend with a strong showing on a day when part of the team could barely compete.
Despite her illness, Ahluwalia ended up finishing in 13th place in the top bracket. She pulled through to win her second match, but was eliminated after losing her third.
"The kids that were sick, they all played, and it's good that they competed, because that's life," Wyant said, dismissing the idea that the illness might have negatively affected team morale.
Russell agreed, saying that having teammates there to cheer after their eliminations was very helpful.
"That made the difference, having my teammates there to cheer for me," Russell said.
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