This weekend, the Penn women's squash team will travel to Princeton for the Howe Cup, a tournament of the top college squash teams in the country. But for Penn freshman Lauralynn Drury, a late-round matchup could mean more than just a win or a loss.
This is because, barring an upset, the sixth-ranked Quakers will face No. 5 Dartmouth in the match to determine fifth place in the final rankings. Expected to top the Dartmouth ladder is junior Julia Drury, Lauralynn's sister.
Following a childhood of fierce competition between the two, their first collegiate matchup earlier this month, which resulted in a 6-3 win for Dartmouth, was an interesting experience.
"It was really interesting playing [Dartmouth], because it's the first time that I'm actually playing against her, as a team," Lauralynn said.
"It was so much different than individually competing because I want my team to win, I want myself to win, and I'm trying to beat my sister and her team."
Although Dartmouth came out on top the first time around, both Drury sisters won their individual matchups. Julia, No. 2 on the Dartmouth ladder at the time, earned a 3-1 victory, while her sister won in three games at No. 4.
"It's like my two loyalties are battling," Lauralynn said of the matchup.
Julia also felt torn, but said that when it comes down to it, her loyalty is definitely to her sister.
It is no coincidence that the pair has been able to succeed in squash at the college level. Their childhoods together drove them to succeed in the sport, in part due to their own competitive nature.
"My dad started us both when we were really young, and from then on we both had each other to compete against," Lauralynn said.
"It was hard just because we were always trying to live up to each other and beat each other."
This competitive nature led the sisters to constantly try to improve their game -- in part to keep pace with each other.
"We pushed each other and the competition that was always there just helped us both reach new heights," Lauralynn said.
This experience paid off early on for the Drury sisters. To Julia, a defining moment in her early life in squash came when the Drury sisters first competed outside of the family.
"We went to a tournament kind of randomly and did really well," Julia recalled.
From that point on, it was clear that both sisters had a future in squash.
Both Lauralynn and Julia went on to successful high school squash careers. Lauralynn captained her team at the Nichols School in Buffalo, N.Y., following her sister's departure for Dartmouth, and was ranked as high as No. 10 overall in the country.
Now that they are both in college, the sisters are now forced to compete against each other in a team atmosphere for the first time in their lives. Though they have yet to play each other directly, Lauralynn hopes they may get the opportunity before her sister graduates from Dartmouth.
"I think if I were to play against my sister, I'd forget about our relationship and I'd just think about the team," Lauralynn said.
In part because of her advantage in age and experience, Julia has gotten the best of her sister in their previous matchups.
"She hasn't beaten me yet," Julia boasts.
But after a year of developing in a college system, would Lauralynn still be a step behind?
"I don't know anymore," Julia said. "She'd be one of my hardest mental matches."
"It was hard to compete against her because she was kind of always better than me," Lauralynn said. "I feel like our skill was close, but it was more of a mental game when I was playing her."
After a year of improving the mental side of her game, Lauralynn is confident the results would be different now.
"If I were to play her this year, I think I would do a lot better," Lauralynn said, going as far as to say that she thinks a victory would be a definite possibility.
Lauralynn may get her chance to prove herself next year, but for now, the sisters will continue cheering each other on from the sidelines.
To reach the Dartmouth matchup this weekend, the Red and Blue will have to win its likely second round matchup with No. 7 Brown. The Quakers beat Brown 5-4 on Dec. 5.
In a sport in which upsets are extremely rare, the matchup against the Bears is what would likely follow a first-round matchup with No. 3 Trinity, if the result turns out the same as last weekend when Penn fell to the Bantams, 8-1.
With such a difficult first round draw, Penn's goal will be simply to improve on last week's showing.
"My goal is for us to continue to demonstrate the progress that we've made," coach Jack Wyant said.
Over the course of the season, the developing Quakers squad has shown flashes of excellence. Against some of the top teams in the country -- Trinity and Harvard -- the Quakers were able to earn individual victories despite their loss as a team.
The trouble has been that these exceptional performances seem to come from different people every week. Because of this, maintaining consistent play is going to be a focal point for the Quakers this weekend.
"What we need to have this weekend is some consistency from top to bottom," Wyant said. "We've got a developing team, so I think that we won't be searching for this consistency in two to three years time. It will be there."
As for the chances of Penn reversing its earlier losses to Trinity or Dartmouth, the possibility exists, but it will take more than just a couple of exceptional performances.
"We need to have at least five kids come through and play great matches all on the same day," Wyant said.
If this happens, perhaps the weekend can be remembered as something greater for the Quakers and the younger Drury sister.
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