After two tough losses and a victory this weekend at the Howe Cup at Harvard, the women's squash team finished the season with a 10-12 record and a No. 22 national ranking.
The Jumbos lost to No. 19 Franklin & Marshall, 7-2 on Friday to kick off the weekend, followed by an 8-1 win on Saturday over No. 24 Wesleyan. On Sunday, the squad lost its last match of the season in one of the closest of the year, falling to No. 21 Hamilton 5-4.
Playing out of the Walker Division at the Howe Cup, the Jumbos were seeded No. 5 in their division. Tufts competed in several close matches, starting with the fourth-seeded Franklin & Marshall Diplomats to open the tournament.
Junior co-captain Julia Avrutin fought back after losing two games to Diplomat junior Jessica Mitchell in the No. 2 slot, picking up the 9-10, 5-9, 9-0, 9-2, 9-2 win for Tufts. Junior Liz Thys, playing at No. 3, overcame Franklin & Marshall freshman Davinia Buckley (9-3, 2-9, 9-5, 9-5) to capture the Jumbos' second, and final, win of the contest.
Despite claiming those two tight victories, the Jumbos were unable to capitalize on the other close matches that characterized this match. Playing at No. 6, junior Jenny Lange came back after dropping the first two sets to Diplomat senior Lizzy Denenburg, but fell short of completing the comeback, losing 9-0, 9-3, 4-9, 6-9, 9-2.
From the No. 8 slot, Jumbo sophomore Micela Leis traded sets with junior Gini Rollins, but Rollins ultimately outlasted Leis, 9-3, 9-10, 9-3, 7-9, 9-1.
Tufts was forced to compete throughout the weekend without its usual No. 3 player, freshman Victoria Barba, who was sidelined by illness. To compensate, everyone seeded below Barba had to play a level above her usual seeding.
"We were disappointed that we didn't beat Franklin & Marshall, but everyone is happy with how they played," Avrutin said. "Everyone was playing a spot ahead of where they normally play, and they did really well."
"I really think we stepped up to the occasion, and we were down one of our top players, which hurt a lot," senior co-captain Joelle Polivy said. "We did what we could with what we had and we did our best."
On Saturday, during the first round of the loser's brackets, Tufts overwhelmed the Wesleyan Cardinals, 8-1. The Jumbos' only loss came from No. 9 seed Nicole Braun, who fell in four sets to Wesleyan senior Kate Jones. In both of the two teams' prior meetings this season, Tufts trounced the Cardinals by a 9-0 margin.
"We were a little frustrated that we had to play them again because we thought we deserved to be playing a higher-ranked team," Polivy said. "After such a tough loss [against Frankin & Marshall], it was nice to know that we could still play squash, though."
Going into Sunday's contest against the Hamilton Pioneers, Tufts prepped for its final team match of both the Howe Cup and the season. The forecast looked cautiously good, as Tufts had defeated Hamilton two weeks ago at the NESCAC Invitational 5-4.
"We were really excited," Polivy said. "We were just really set on putting our whole hearts into it. For me especially, since it was my last match, we were ready to put it onto the court."
But the Jumbos fell one match short of finishing their season on a winning note, losing 5-4 to the Pioneers in a reversal of the teams' previous meeting.
Thys, competing again at No. 3, outlasted junior Lindsay Walsh (9-7, 6-9, 6-9, 9-5, 9-7). At No. 6, Lange defeated senior Callen Sterling in four games, 9-5, 5-9, 9-5, 9-6. Leis, once again at No. 8, won her second five-set marathon match of the weekend, defeating Hamilton freshman Bailey Harris 9-2, 2-9, 6-9, 9-5, 9-2.
As with the Franklin & Marshall match two days earlier, close losses cost the Jumbos the victory. Playing at the No. 1 slot, sophomore Rebecca Rice fell to Pioneer freshman Madeleine Sullivan in four tight sets (9-6, 9-6, 2-9, 10-8). Tufts senior Sarah Lucas staged a late-match comeback against senior Sarah Reinhoff but failed to secure the victory, losing 9-1, 9-2, 4-9, 8-10, 9-4.
"We were disappointed, but most everyone was happy with how they performed," Avrutin said. "We did the most that we could."
Barba's absence from the ladder was felt throughout the weekend.
"I think that if she had been in the lineup, we would have won the division," Polivy said. "We were all playing so well. We would have beaten Franklin & Marshall, and we would have beaten [Walker Division No. 1 seed] Amherst; I'm almost sure of it."
Tufts finished this season with a No. 22 ranking, six spots below 2005's No. 16 final ranking. The replacement of former coach Kate Bayard with interim coach Orla O'Doherty, coupled with the loss of four of last year's seniors who competed in the middle of the ladder, combined for a tumultuous season.
"Second semester, [O'Doherty was] such an amazing coach, and we came very close as a team," Polivy said. "It was disappointing that we ended up with this ranking. We really put everything we had into the season."
