The women's squash team headed to Yale this weekend for Howe Cup Championships, hoping to end a four-game losing streak and make some noise at the premier squash tournament of the season.
Stiff competition, however, proved too much for the Jumbos, who extended their losing streak to six before notching a win in the tournament's final match. After losing to Vassar 8-1 on Friday and Virginia 8-1 on Saturday, the team turned it around and beat Wellesley 6-3 on Sunday. But the win provided little solace for the squad, which entered the weekend ranked No. 20 in the nation but dropped to No. 23 by the weekend's conclusion.
"I think everyone played well this weekend, but in the standings we were disappointed," senior co-captain Liz Thys said. "We should have at least been in the top 20."
The squad entered the Howe Cup with hopes of taking first place in the Walker Cup (C Division), which would have netted the Jumbos a No. 17 ranking. A win in Friday's first round match against No. 21 Vassar would have also sent the Jumbos to the winners' bracket, but the Brewers dominated Tufts, pushing the Jumbos into the losers' bracket for the remainder of the weekend.
In its last attempt to decrease the scope of the cloud hanging over the weekend, the Jumbos pulled out a victory against Wellesley on Sunday. Although the victory offered a bright spot in a weekend mired with tough losses, the win could not erase the six-game losing streak leading up to the match.
"We expected to win against Wellesley," Thys said. "[The win] was nice for players who had tough matches Friday and Saturday, but it wasn't an uplifting closure for us."
The successful games against Wellesley consisted exclusively of three-game sweeps, leaving the Jumbos with a decisive victory.
Tufts' second match of the tournament came Saturday against Virginia's women's club team. The Cavaliers were seeded last in the C division with a No. 24 ranking, moving down to the losers' bracket after a narrow 5-4 loss to No. 1 seeded William Smith. Tufts lost a 5-4 heartbreaker to the Heron's last weekend at the Cornell Round Robin.
William Smith finished as the champions of the C division, placing it at No. 17 nationally for the season.
The Jumbos' bout with the Cavaliers was quite an upset, as Tufts once again recorded just one win - this time from freshman Stefanie Marx at No. 3, finishing the match with a score of 8-1. Marx secured the win in a four-set game 9-6, 9-5, 1-9, 9-6 against her Cavalier challenger Magee Quick. Once again Thys put out a tremendous effort, taking her Virginia opponent Sarah Bridgenhagen to four sets before falling 9-6, 9-4, 9-10, 9-2. Although Virginia's club squash program is only a few years old, the squad nonetheless out-dueled its Tufts opponent.
The team started the tournament on Friday against a relatively weak Vassar squad. But Tufts' opponent showed up to play. Underestimation of Vassar coupled with a lack of focus yielded the one-sided outcome.
"I don't think anyone went in not playing their hardest," sophomore Victoria Barba said. "But maybe a different mindset would have helped - not thinking we already had the win."
"I think that for Vassar, we weren't prepared mentally," Thys said.
Thys secured the team's only win, defeating Vassar senior Judy Jarvis at the No. 4 slot in a close four-set game, 9-6, 7-9, 9-7, 9-6, 9-7. Tufts junior Micela Leis fought admirably in a five-set game at No. 6, but Brewer senior Blair Komar overcame a two-set deficit to win 5-9, 1-9, 9-1, 9-1, 9-7.
Despite the lack of success, the team is using this weekend's outcomes as a jumping-off point for next season.
"There's no way to go back and change how we did this weekend," Barba said. "Our eight and nine positions just started playing squash. I think we need to train smarter next season. I do aspire for the team to do better next year."
