Although the score might not reflect it, the women's squash team put up an admirable fight on Wednesday night at host Brown University in Providence, R.I.
The Jumbos dropped all nine matches to the No. 9 Bears, but came out of the match with an idea of what they need to work on to be competitive in the season's culminating event, the Howe Cup Tournament on Feb. 16-18.
"The match was decent," sophomore Victoria Barba said. "I feel the team went into it with a couple of doubts, but we played hard and that is all you can ask of anyone."
After missing last weekend's NESCAC Tournament, senior co-captain Julia Avrutin was back in action at the No. 1 spot for Tufts. Unfortunately for Avrutin and the Jumbos, Brown senior Erin Andrews dominated Avrutin in three games, 9-1, 9-1, 9-3. While no Jumbo player managed to pick up a game against her Brown opponent, the squad recognized the level of play it needs to attain over the next couple of weeks.
"Today was a tough match," Avrutin said. "We knew that going into it. Even though we lost, everyone played really hard and tried their best, which is the most you can ask for."
In the No. 2 slot, Barba put up the strongest fight of the day. Although she fell in consecutive games, she scored the most points out of any Jumbo on the day, with 16 in her three games. Barba took the lead against her Brown opponent, freshman Laura Pyne, in the third match, but eventually lost by a score of 9-3, 9-5, 10-8.
"I am going to continue to work on tough game strategy and a more relaxed entrance to the court," Barba said. "This past weekend I realized why I had started playing squash and tried to use that passion to calm my nerves and play the game that does not show up when I am nervous."
For a Jumbo squad that has had to overcome injuries and absences, Wednesday still provided a bright spot, as the Jumbos fielded nine players, thus not having to forfeit the ninth game by default.
Freshman Stefanie Marx at No. 3 also provided the Jumbos with some positive play. Marx started off her match with an early lead in the first game before Brown senior Zarah Rahman got the best of her and ran away with the match, 9-6, 9-3, 9-0.
"Brown was a good warm-up for this weekend," Avrutin said. "We are going to play some really good teams, and we needed the competition to get us ready for this weekend."
Senior co-captain Liz Thys, sophomore Jessica Herrmann and junior Micela Leis all played in their usual No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 spots, respectively, for the Jumbos, while sophomore Simone Grant, senior Morgan Glasebrook and junior Stephanie Gold rounded out the bottom of the lineup. While the third- through fifth-seeded players managed a point here and there against the Bears, the bottom three players were met with a tougher fate, failing to muster a single point in their matches.
"Everyone lost, but when you play against really good players, it helps your own game," Avrutin said. "Hopefully we will take that with us to Cornell this weekend."
Tomorrow the Jumbos travel to Cornell to play in the Cornell Round Robin against William Smith and the hosting Big Red. The Jumbos will then return to Medford to take on NESCAC rival Bates at Belmont Hill High School on Tuesday. These three matches will serve as the final matches before the Howe Cup Tournament. The women hope to prepare as much as possible over the next few matches so as to be ready for the largest tournament of their season.
"I am sure everyone thought there were some areas they could improve in," Avrutin said. "We will focus on individual styles and try and make the necessary changes for this weekend."
"As a team we need to relax more," Barba added. "In practice we will focus on quality of drills rather than quantity. [Coach] Doug [Eng] has done this, as he has taken the time to plan what each of us individually need to work on and is getting on the court with us during practice to make sure we are focusing on the target areas."
With teams from all over the country coming together to compete in different divisions against some of the best players in the country, the Howe Cup, held at Yale this year, is the pinnacle of the season.
