The Tufts women's squash team had its struggles last season, but came on strong down the stretch. Now, with a new, young cast as well as some veteran leaders, the Jumbos will look to ride the coattails of that momentum to a successful upcoming season.
Last year, several team members were plagued by injuries for much of the early part of the season, forcing the Jumbos to forfeit up to four individual matches in a single team match. The Jumbos struggled to find their footing, losing their first six team matches by a combined score of 38-1.
The team managed to recover, however, winning its next three straight matches. After a few more stumbles along the way, the Jumbos closed out the season with wins in two of their last three matches and earned the No. 18 spot in the season's final national rankings.
While some of the veterans integral to the team's success last season will still be present, the Jumbos' hopes to win will hinge on a set of newcomers to the team. With the loss of last year's No. 1 player Victoria Barba (LA '09) to graduation and No. 2 player senior co-captain Stefanie Marx to injury, the top of the ladder will look very different as this season begins.
Junior co-captain Valerie Koo and sophomores Mercedes Barba and Alix Michael will be playing in spots one through three, places in which none of them have experience. In the middle of the ladder, spots four through seven will be held by sophomore Alyse Vinoski and freshmen Jessica Rubine, Madison Newbound and Ushashi Basu, all of whom are new to the team.
The bottom of the ladder also includes seniors Erin Bruynell, Sairah Mahmud, Lauren Lanster, and sophomores Ale Beretta and Mengmeng Wang. The seniors' experience will be crucial to the growth of the younger players above them on the ladder.
"I believe it has definitely become the older players' responsibility to reach out to these new players and integrate them into the team," Bruynell said. "Although squash is often considered an individual sport, a close-knit team is still integral to performing well at team practices and at matches."
Luckily for the Jumbos, all teams are going to have some serious work to do this season. Thanks to a rule change by the College Squash Association, even the most experienced squads will have some serious practice to do to get accustomed to the new style of play. Previously, a player could only win a point while on serve. However, college squash is changing to a point-a-rally (PAR) system. Now, no matter which player serves the ball, the winner of the rally will receive a point.
"In the past we've put a lot of emphasis on fitness, but in the PAR system, fitness won't be as much of an advantage because the matches will be shorter," Koo said. "Instead, we're now focusing on being aggressive right from the start and building up a lead because it will be hard to catch up even if you're trailing by just a few points."
The team is also working with new assistant coach Belkys Velez, who plays on the professional circuit. With many recent changes to the team and the collegiate rules, a coach with Velez's kind of experience and skill will be invaluable.
"Coach Belkys is a wonderful addition to the program," Bruynell said. "She's very knowledgeable about the sport and is a great player herself, so we have a lot to learn from her."
The Jumbos begin the season at No. 19, in the top half of the C division. Tufts is hoping that its young talent will shine, and is looking to work its way up to the top 16 and a place in the B division for next season.
"Traditionally, the new players do pretty well in the season also, and the ones we have this year are showing a lot of promise, so I think the season will turn out quite well," Woo said.
The team will be tested right from the get go, with its first three matches coming against No. 12 Bates, No. 13 Middlebury and No. 8 Williams. Even coming away with a victory in only one of these matches could be a huge confidence booster. And while Williams is a strong team, Bates and Middlebury are both prime candidates for an early upset by the Jumbos.
"Williams has always been a lot stronger than us, but Bates and Middlebury could potentially be close matches," Woo said.
Marx is hoping to rejoin the team in the spring semester, and the young players will continue to improve as the season progresses. However, the Jumbos have no intention of writing this season off as a rebuilding year, and with the talent they have, no one should be surprised if they reach the B division.
"With half the team being new players, we might be a little bit more inexperienced, but we are all really passionate about the sport, so I think we'll cope well," said Woo. "We're training as hard as we can, and the work ethic is great on the team."
