After a 9-0 rout at the hands of No. 7 Brown University on Tuesday, the women's squash team now looks ahead to this afternoon's first-round match of the Howe Cup against No. 21 Franklin & Marshall at Harvard.
The No. 16 Jumbos fell to 9-10 on the season with their loss to the Bears. The squad was forced to play without two of its starters, No. 1 sophomore Rebecca Rice, due to injury, and No. 7 junior Jenny Lange, due to illness..
Junior co-captain Julia Avrutin stepped up in the lineup to compete at the No. 1 slot against Brown freshman Charlotte Steel. Avrutin jumped to an early two game lead over her opponent, but Steel took the next three games to secure a 7-9, 5-9, 9-1, 9-0, 9-4 victory for the Bears.
Playing at No 2., Jumbo freshman Victoria Barba lost in three sets to freshman Breck Haynes (10-8, 9-1, 9-0). Junior Liz Thys retired due to a knee injury after losing 10-8 in the first set in her match against Brown junior Zarah Rahman.
Overall, Brown amassed 25 games to Tufts' two en route to tallying 227 points to the Jumbos' 67.
Avrutin said that the squad was prepared for the stiff competition that Brown brought to the match, and that pulling off a victory would have been a steep challenge.
"Going into it, we knew it would be a really hard match," Avrutin said. "It was a good warm-up for us going into the Howe Cup this weekend. It was good to play at a really competitive level."
The Jumbos will take on the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats today at 12:30 p.m. at Harvard. Tufts is seeded No. 5 in the Walker Division, the event's third division that includes the eight teams nationally ranked No. 17 through No. 24. Franklin & Marshall is seeded fourth in the division.
"We don't know that much about them," Avrutin said. "We think we're about even with them as a team. We can definitely beat them, though."
"It will be a really good match; they're seeded right above us," Rice added. "It'll be really close, and it's a great way to start off the tournament."
Each team competing at the Howe Cup is guaranteed to play three matches over the course of the weekend.
No. 17 Amherst will be the top seed in the Walker Division, and the Jumbos would likely face the Lord Jeffs in the second round if they beat the Diplomats this afternoon. Tufts has already lost to Amherst twice this season, first in December by a 6-3 margin, followed by a 7-2 loss earlier this month at the NESCAC Invitational.
"We have had some close matches with [Amherst]," Avrutin said. "I think we have a good shot at winning our division."
"Last year, we were seeded last in the B Division," Avrutin said. "The year before, we were in C [division] and we finished third or fourth. Hopefully this weekend we will be back at the top of C."
Even though Thys had to withdraw from her match due to injury against Brown, she should be ready to play in time for Friday's contest.
"She just had some knee trouble, and hopefully she will be able to work through it," Avrutin said. "I think it is a big probability that she will be able to play this weekend."
The Howe Cup is the culminating and premier tournament of the women's squash season and is the last team competition before the College Squash Association Singles Championships, to be held at Amherst next weekend.
"We've been working really hard in practice, and I've been playing well, so it's good timing," Rice said. "The tournament provides a really good chance to bump our [national] ranking, which is great. [The Howe Cup] is your last opportunity and best opportunity to play your hardest."
