It's a good thing that coaches can't play for their teams. If they could, the Penn women's squash team would be facing a tough task in tonight's match at Franklin and Marshall. The Diplomats' men's and women's head coach, John White was ranked No. 1 in the world in March 2004, and retired from professional squash in October as No.

The season may be young, but the men's squash team is already facing the sport's heavy-hitters. The Quakers travel to Brown (0-1, 0-1 Ivy) on Sunday, but are more concerned with Saturday's match against Yale. The Bulldogs are the first member of squash's elite quadrumvirate --- Trinity, Harvard and Princeton will come later - that Penn will play this season.

Emily Goodwin extends her arm straight back at a high angle, the ball bounces in front of her, she bends her knees and accelerates her racquet head through the rising ball. While this stroke is routine on a squash court, it's especially sweet for the Penn senior and co-captain.

It's been a tough grind to start the season for the Penn men's basketball team. First, there was the trip down to Dean Smith Center to open up against the No.1 North Carolina Tar Heels. Then, the Quakers got taken down a few blocks away from the Palestra at Drexel in a game that finished right as many Penn students were just waking up.

It was deja vu all over again for the Penn women's basketball team, as yet again the difference between a win and a loss was a single timeout. In a season filled with close, heartbreaking losses, the Quakers finally prevailed, 61-58, to push their record to 1-6.

For all but one member of the men's squash team, Thursday night's win over No. 12 Navy was your typical 9-0 rout. But for freshman Thomas Mattsson, this victory meant a lot more. That's because sitting at the No. 1 spot for the Midshipmen (16-2) is his brother, Nils.

With six losses in its first six games- and with only six more to go before the Ivy League opener against Princeton - the women's basketball team has been to hell and back. But despite their demoralizing start, the Quakers are confident that they will make the necessary improvements before heading into league play.

There's that old sinking feeling again. Desperate to notch its second win of the season against a perennially mediocre Navy squad, Penn was dominated on both ends of the floor en route to a 76-65 loss at the Palestra on Friday.

With six losses in its first six games- and with only six more to go before the Ivy League opener against Princeton - the women's basketball team has been to hell and back. But despite their demoralizing start, the Quakers are confident that they will make the necessary improvements before heading into league play.

Welcome back Naomi Delphin. After missing the start of the season with back troubles, the talented sophomore returns to action this weekend. With one quarter of the Penn women's swimming team out with injuries, her return could not be more timely. The Quakers will clash with some of the nation's top talent at the Kenyon Invitational in Gambier, Ohio, which will take place today through Saturday.

Excuse Penn swimming coach Mike Schnur if he's not exactly thankful for Thanksgiving Break. Junior John Benigno is out of commission after cutting off part of his finger while slicing bread, and several other swimmers are battling lingering colds. But the Quakers (1-2) will have to persevere despite those hardships, as this weekend brings one of the most demanding meets of their season.

The semiannual Fitness Readiness Test at the Naval Academy mandates a minimum of 40 push-ups in two minutes, 65 sit-ups in two minutes and a 1.5 mile run under ten and a half minutes. It's no surprise, then, that the men's squash team from Annapolis, Md., has been keeping in shape.

Penn coach Glen Miller said that the No. 1 culprit in Penn's 69-47 loss to Villanova Tuesday night was poor shooting by the Quakers. A close second were the offensive rebounds that made the Wildcats look as if they were sporting metal jerseys that attracted the seemingly magnetized basketballs coming off of the rim.

Penn sophomore Erin Power jumped on the loose ball with seven seconds left. With Penn up by one, she called a timeout thinking that the Quakers had secured a victory over Lafayette. Unfortunately, the Quakers had no timeouts remaining. That devastating error allowed Lafayette senior Cristin Zavocki to shoot two technical foul shots for a chance to put the Leopards ahead.

Jay Wright is starting to like this Palestra joint. "I always take the guys for a tour," said the Villanova coach. "They said, 'Coach we did this last year.' I said, 'We're gonna do it anyway because I like it.'" You might, too, after six straight triumphs over the custodians of College B

There was an eerie feeling last night at the Palestra, even before the game tipped off. Scanning the arena from press row, I saw completely empty sections in the second tier of the historic gym. Penn's cheerleaders moved their seats from the baseline to the front rows of the student section to fill the rows of sparsely-filled bleachers behind the basket.

By ANDREW SCURRIA Senior Staff Writer scurria@dailypennsylvanian.com Andreas Schreiber played last night for the first time this year after spending weeks recovering from a shoulder injury he sustained in preseason practice. Coach Glen Miller had kept the injury, and Schreiber's status, murky.