It was a successful couple of days for the women's squash team as it emerged from the weekend victorious in three out of four matches, more than doubling its previous win total for the year. The four matches, which took place at Smith College, took place on Saturday and Sunday.
The weekend started off on a bad note, with the team dropping a match 6-3 to a tough Middlebury team. The Jumbos regrouped for their match against Vassar later that day and stormed back with a 5-4 win. When play resumed on Sunday, Tufts found itself facing William Smith College, where the team came away with another 5-4 victory. The weekend ended with an 8-1 thrashing of the hosting Smith squad. The women's squash team improved its record to 5-10 with their string of victories on Saturday and Sunday.
"We came into the weekend 100 percent confident that we would win these games," coach Doug Eng said. "This is the best squash we've played so far this year, this team is really getting into a groove."
Eng was especially impressed by the way his team overcame the fatigue that comes from playing four intense matches in 48 hours, as the players rebounded from their disheartening loss to Middlebury, their first match of the series, to win three consecutive matches. "All the players feel it at the end," Eng said.
One of the most notable aspects of this team is its lack of individual stars. While there have been some outstanding performances lately, they have been largely spread out among the roster as the squad relies on solid team play for victory. Junior Eileen Connors was the only Jumbo to win all four of her matches this weekend. Junior Winnie So, sophomores Leigh Checchio and A.J. Crane, and freshman Nida Ghouse each notched up three victories.
If any player does have the potential for stardom, though, it is So. Recently regaining her spot as the number one seed this year, So represented Tufts at the National Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Association (NISRA) Championship last season. After missing the first part of the season, she showed some rust after her return, dropping five straight matches, but bounced back this weekend with her first three wins of the season.
"All of So's wins were good ones," Eng said. "She still looks a little rusty though, she will get better as the season progresses."
The team faces a tough schedule this coming week, with three matches on consecutive days all against opponents ranked higher than the Jumbos by the Women's Intercollegiate Squash Association (WISA). Tufts, ranked 20th, will face fifth-ranked Brown and sixth-ranked Dartmouth on Thursday and Friday, with a match against 18th-ranked Connecticut College following on Saturday.
"You can't just focus on the scores, you have to focus on your own goals, on what you can and can't do," Eng said. "They should be pretty tough matches though."
The match against Connecticut College should proves to be the most intriguing of the three, as Tufts appears to match up best with them. "We're confident that we will win that match, but of course they are the home team and are ranked higher than us, so they will be confident too." Eng said. "It should be a battle."
