On a day when the Penn women's squash team seemed to be largely overmatched by a strong Trinity squad, freshman Elizabeth Kern achieved what may have been a breakthrough victory.
The sixth-ranked Quakers fell to second-ranked Trinity, 8-1, with the one victory coming from Kern at the eighth position on the ladder.
The top of the Quakers' lineup struggled against a more skilled Trinity squad. Outside of Kern's victory, only two more games went the Quakers' way. Radhika Ahluwalia at the No. 2 spot and Lauralynn Drury at the No. 4 spot were each able to win their first game before dropping the next three to lose their matches.
"It was another tough match," Penn coach Jack Wyant said. "Trinity has a ton of talent, especially at the top end of their ladder, and I think they showed it today."
Although she was the only victorious Quakers player on the day, Kern's win was a decisive one. She did not allow Trinity's Kim Palterman to capture even one game.
"Elizabeth Kern at No. 8 had a bit of a breakthrough," Wyant said. "Any time we, sitting at the No. 6 spot, can beat any of the players on the teams that are one through four, it's a breakthrough for us."
Kern felt that the decisive factor in her match was not the skill level of her opponent, as it seemed to be elsewhere on the ladder, but the mental side of the match.
"I think that they, as a team, mentally kind of weren't all there," Kern said. "I tried to pull that aspect of my game together, -- the mental part -- and I think that was a huge factor in me winning this time.
"I understood that I really had nothing to lose, and thus I kind of just took it point by point and left it all out there, and I think that it just kind of fell together for me."
Despite the lopsided score, the team played well overall against a Bantams team which is dominant year in and year out. Although victory was out of reach for the Red and Blue, the match served as an opportunity for the team to continue to develop.
"We're not as far behind these teams as the scores would indicate," Wyant said. "All credit to Trinity, they earned a decisive result, but I was generally pleased. I think that they showed progress."
Progress may be the key to this squash season for the Quakers. They are perhaps still adjusting in their first year under a new coach in Wyant.
Though the team is not yet at the level of a squad like Trinity, they are a young group and should only improve with more experience. This is what makes breakthrough performances, especially by a freshman like Kern, so valuable to the team.
"Seven of my top nine are freshmen or sophomores, so I've got the opportunity to work with them for two to three more years," Wyant said. "We've got a strong recruiting class coming in next year, so the sky's the limit for us.
"I'm not in this business to stay No. 6."
Trinity 8, PENN 1
1. Siu-Lynn Leong def. Paula Pearson (P) 3-0 (9-0, 9-4, 9-4)
2. Vaidehi Reddy def. Radhika Ahluwalia (P) 3-1 (4-9, 9-6, 9-3, 9-2)
3. Larissa Stephenson def. Caitlin Russell (P) 3-0 (9-4, 9-3, 9-4)
4. Lauren Polonich def. Lauralynn Drury (P) 3-1 (0-9, 9-0, 9-1, 9-1)
5. Maria Restrepo def. Annie Barrett (P) 3-0 (9-4, 9-0, 9-2)
6. Siobhan Knight def. Rohini Gupta (P) 3-0 (9-6, 9-2, 9-2)
7. Margot Kearney def. Chloe Wynne (P) 3-0 (10-8, 9-2, 9-6)
8. Elizabeth Kern (P) def. Kim Palterman 3-0 (9-0, 9-5, 9-4)
9. Hadley Schroll def. Caitlin O'Neal (P) 3-0 (10-8, 9-4, 9-5)
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