The Tufts women's squash team had mixed results this past week. After racing out to an impressive undefeated start to the season, the Jumbos went 2-1 last week.
On Sunday, the Jumbos traveled to Brown University, which owns the number three national ranking. Tufts was hopeful, considering Brown's exhausting 5-4 loss to number two Penn the day before. The Jumbos, however, did not have the same luck as the Quakers. Tufts couldn't win a single game in a 9-0 defeat at the hands of a strong Brown team.
Coach Doug Eng did not bank on winning this match, and he said that matches against top-ranked opponents are growing experiences.
"It's more about learning how to lose and handle ourselves gracefully." Eng was satisfied with his team's effort despite it not showing on the scoreboard.
The Jumbos had better fortune in the Wesleyan Invitational on Friday. They started off with the host team and easily dispensed of it 8-1, with the only loss coming in a five-game heartbreaker for Tufts' number-two seed, junior Anne Montesano. Montesano took the first and fourth games, but let her lead slip away in the deciding fifth game.
Tufts also got strong efforts from captain Justine Kurland, sophomore Iffy Saed, sophomore Eileen Connors, senior Danae Filotis, freshman Leigh Checchio and number-one seed, sophomore Winnie So. Each of them did not drop a game in their convincing victories.
Next for the Jumbos in the Invitational was Hamilton, who Tufts had already beaten 7-2 two weeks before. This time, the meet was closer, but the Jumbos emerged with a 6-3 victory.
Tufts suffered a bit from not having its number two player, graduate student Zaina Al-Awadi, for this match. She was not able to play in the Invitational due to her nine-to-five job with the dental school. Montesano, who moved up to the two spot, again had trouble with her match.
"[Montesano] is playing as well as some [nationally ranked] players," said Eng, despite Montesano's close loss.
Kurland, who had defeated the same player two weeks earlier, lost her match 3-1. Eng also had nothing but compliments for Kurland's performance so far this season.
"Justine's working very hard and has improved a lot this season," he said. "She knows her weaknesses and is working on them." Kurland actually dropped her first game of the season in this 3-1 loss.
Tufts' final loss in this meet came as a result of sophomore Eileen Connors forced move up from her usual number eight seed to number seven as a result of Al-Awadi's absence. Connors was certainly not outclassed in this match, in which she won two out of the five games, but she would likely have had a better result in the eight spot.
All of the other Jumbo players won their matches, with senior Kate Peterson the only one who needed to go past the first three games. Peterson won a nerve-racking, five-game match on the sudden-death final point of the match.
One Jumbo's victory was especially sweet. Sophomore Abi Cushman avenged a defeat of two weeks ago by crushing the same player 3-0.
With these important victories, the Jumbos have already realized their highest national ranking in about 10 years this season. The mid-season rankings are not as important to the team as the end of the year results, but the national ranking marks a good start to the season.
With this early season success, it is important for the Jumbos to not lose a step over the holiday break.
"The whole team has improved so far this season," Kurland said, and also noted that it is important for the team to not "slack off" during its month and a half break from match play. The break should help the team a bit, too. Number one seed Winnie So has been fighting injury throughout this young season and the time off from competition should allow her to recuperate and improve on her already impressive individual national ranking of 26.
However, the Jumbos have two more important matches before they can relax during the holiday break. Later today, the Jumbos will travel to Amherst to battle the team that shares their number 12 national ranking. Kurland calls the Amherst match "a big test" for the team. The whole team should be intact for this meet, and Tufts will have its best chance to beat Amherst this time around.
Then, on Friday, Tufts takes on Bowdoin, which was ranked seventh at the beginning of the season but is now unranked. This will be a hard meet for the Jumbos, but with the team's depth, it should definitely put up a good fight.
