The Dartmouth women's squash team was missing its top two players and had already played a match earlier in the day, but it still pulled out a convincing 9-0 victory over Tufts on Wednesday night in Hanover, N.H.
"They were actually better than we expected because they were missing their two top players," junior Victoria Barba said. "We need to work on using our core shots like the rail and knowing when to attack. We have to be ready and wanting to win."
Although the Jumbos may have underestimated Dartmouth, they should not have been surprised when the Big Green emerged from its 6-3 loss to Harvard earlier in the day to dominate Tufts; Dartmouth finished seventh in the country last season and had beaten the Jumbos 9-0 in each of the past two seasons.
While the outcome was not what Tufts wanted - it was the second consecutive match the team lost 9-0 - the Jumbos were not entirely disappointed with their performance.
"It was a good match," Barba said. "We tried hard and played with a lot of heart, as usual. It was difficult because the conditions were hot, so the ball was moving even faster than normal. But for the most part, the season has the gone the way we expected so far."
"We had really good spirit, energy, and enthusiasm, even though we knew it would be hard," junior Jessica Herrmann said. "It's tough to travel a long way and then play well, especially against a really good team. But the thing about playing a good team is that you tend to play better yourself, so everyone on the team stepped up and played some of their best points."
Playing a better team also highlighted aspects of Tufts' game that need improvement.
"We need to work on our movement, getting back to the T," Herrmann said. "We also need to work on the mental side, playing in practice as if it's a match so that we're ready for the matches. And we need to work on our fitness so that we compete up to the level of our opponents the whole time."
Sophomore Katie Stork, seeing her first action of the season, had the standout performance of the night for the Jumbos when she stormed out of the gate in her match at No. 9, winning the first game 9-4. The match remained competitive as Stork won 16 points over the next three games. Senior co-captain Micela Leis also played a strong second game at the No. 6 spot, losing 9-7.
The Jumbos were again without senior co-captain Rebecca Rice, their No. 1 player, who is recovering from a back injury suffered during the team's match against Conn. College on Nov. 16. Rice is expected to return this weekend.
"Not having Rebecca is definitely hurting us because of the lineup shift it causes," Barba said.
"Our No. 1 getting injured hurt us," Herrmann added. "But she's been great, coming to the matches and providing morale, so it's great she'll be back this weekend. And we've also had some illnesses, with people getting colds and the flu going around. That's one of the problems with a winter sport."
Next up for Tufts is the Boston Shootout, an event the Jumbos sat out last year. This year they play two key matches tomorrow against Bowdoin and Middlebury at Harvard, and they'll play Northeastern on Sunday.
"We're really looking forward to playing Middlebury because we know that's where the challenge lies," Herrmann said. "We haven't played them in a year, and we think we have a good chance to win. We [also] should be able to beat Northeastern."
