Jumbos drop three straight over weekend

The women's squash team dropped all three of its matches against NESCAC foes Bowdoin, Bates, and Colby during its annual road trip to Maine last weekend.

Tufts was blanked by both Bowdoin and Bates on Saturday, but fared better against Colby losing by just three matches, 6-3, on Friday.

Even though it finished with an 0-3 record on the weekend, the team remained upbeat and felt it performed well despite the stiff competition.

"We knew going into these matches that the teams were going to be very strong," senior tri-captain A.J. Crane said.

Tufts put up a tough fight against Bowdoin with the bottom of its lineup. At the number eight spot, sophomore Joelle Polivy lost a close match (1-9, 9-4, 3-9, 8-9) to Bowdoin sophomore Brooke Nentwig. Junior Rhonda Barkan also battled at the number nine position, but ended up on the shorter end of a grueling five game match with sophomore Molly Dorkey (7-9, 9-4, 7-9, 9-4, 5-9).

Crane was handily defeated at number four (4-9, 4-9, 3-9), but was not overly disappointed.

"I felt I played pretty well in the match against Bowdoin," Crane said. "We've been working on hitting a little harder and outworking our opponents. I think it's starting to pay off."

The team's results were similar when it faced Bates earlier in the afternoon. No Jumbo was victorious, but senior tri-captain Leigh Checchio had the strongest Tufts performance against freshman Kelsey Engman in the number two slot. She was defeated (5-9, 2-9, 9-1, 1-9), but was the only Jumbo in the match to tally a game win against the Bobcats.

In light of the squad's 0-3 stint over the weekend, coach Doug Eng is hoping the Jumbos will be more aggressive in their upcoming matches.

"We still need to drive the ball a little better. It's going to be a project," he said. "We're a smart team, but we need to work on our movement and take charge of some of these matches. We are starting to take the steps, but we do need to master the fundamentals."

On Friday afternoon against Colby, Tufts once again saw strong performances out of the bottom of its lineup, with the seventh, eighth, and ninth positions all emerging victorious. Freshman Liz Thys was consistent at the seventh spot, winning (9-4, 9-4, 9-4). Polivy notched a victory at number eight, winning (9-7, 9-5, 9-3). Barkman was also solid at number nine with a (9-3, 9-1, 9-6) win.

"The Colby match could have been 5-4," Eng said. "We played extremely well in that one. Against Bates and Bowdoin we had our moments, but we didn't play all that well."

Even though they failed to produce a victory, Eng was complimentary of the top Tufts players' performances.

"Jules [Avrutin] and Leigh are playing extremely well right now," Eng said. "Both of them are playing much better than their scores indicate. Leigh has stepped it up at the number two position beautifully."

The Jumbos have their eyes fixed on the Howe Cup next weekend at Yale University. Tufts is currently ranked 21st, but the team hopes it can improve upon that standing next week. In order to move up, the Jumbos face a formidable opponent in Smith College, who they lost to in a tight match earlier in the season.

"We have a tough draw in the Howe cup," Eng said. "We lost last time to Smith, but I think we can win this time around. If we beat Smith, then we play Middlebury. We have a chance to take Middlebury, but in order to do so we need to be flawless."

Despite the tough competition, Eng is optimistic about his squad's chances next week.

"The team has been playing its best squash in the last couple of weeks," Eng said. "I think we'll show we're better than our ranking at the Howe Cup."