In a span of ten hours this past weekend, the women's squash team accomplished the impressive feat of winning three matches, traveling to Smith College for the Mount Holyoke Invitational and defeating the host Little Pioneers 9-0, the St. Lawrence Saints, and the Haverford Fords 9-0.
Entering the day, the Jumbos knew that there was really only one team to worry about.
"When you are going to play three matches in one day, it's very hard to focus on all three," coach Doug Eng said. The Jumbos chose to focus on the St. Lawrence squad, which was ranked one spot behind the 15th ranked Tufts team in the Feb. 1 Women's Intercollegiate Squash Association (WISA) national rankings.
"They're gunning for us," Eng said of the Saints.
Before they could play their key match, though, the Jumbos had to first dispose of Smith. The Jumbos had no problem meeting the task, easily dispensing with the Little Pioneers 9-0.
Following the initial victory, the Jumbos went to battle against the St. Lawrence team that they had been preparing for all week.
"We were all psyched up for St. Lawrence," captain Justine Kurland said.
St. Lawrence has an experienced team, and one of its players, Sarah Kreiner, is ranked 39th in the nation.
Despite winning only one of the first four matches, the Jumbos rebounded to emerge with a victory. The team received solid performances from sophomore Abi Cushman in the number three spot, sophomore Eileen Connors in the five spot, and senior Lani Radford in the ninth position. Freshman Leigh Checchio won the clinching match, and another crucial win came from freshman AJ Crane, who has come on strong of late to help the team replace some missing players.
Eng attributed the Jumbos' big win to being "mentally tougher than the other team."
With the victory over St. Lawrence, Tufts made a strong bid to move up in the national poll.
After the exertion required to top St. Lawrence, the Jumbos were still able to muster enough energy to avoid a letdown, easily disposing Haverford, 9-0, to end the exhausting day.
"It's hard to concentrate for the third match," said Kurland. "Especially after such a big win."
Eng was very proud of the way his team performed on Saturday.
"We played well in all 27 [individual] matches and managed ourselves well," Eng said.
With the season winding down, every match is now of great importance in determining the final national rankings. This Friday, the Jumbos will travel to Lewiston, Maine to take on the 14th-ranked Bates team.
