Coming into last weekend, the women's squash team had just one win in 2010, a commanding 8-1 victory Feb. 2 at Northeastern.
But after eking out a 5-4 victory against Conn. College at the NESCAC Championships on Saturday, Tufts was poised to close out the season on a high note, despite falling short against Colby and Bowdoin earlier in the weekend.
In the final tilts of the event, held at Trinity and Wesleyan, the Jumbos came through with a 5-4 victory over the No. 27-ranked Camels. The win, which came thanks to victories in the second through fifth slots in the ladder, did not surprise the Tufts captains.
"We beat Conn. in the afternoon, and that's what we really hoped to do because they are ranked lower than us," junior tri-captain Valerie Koo said. "It was more crucial to beat Conn. than Bowdoin to keep our ranking, and we did that."
Against Conn. College, sophomore Mercedes Barba gave up just 14 points in a sweep at the No. 3 slot, while first-year Jess Rubine, sophomore Alyse Vinoski and junior tri-captain Erin Bruynell all won in straight sets.
Unfortunately for the Jumbos, the win over the Camels was the only one of the weekend. In the opening match against No. 16 Colby on Friday, the Mules proved that they had a talented squad with enough depth to take down the Jumbos for the second time this season, although Tufts has shown improvement since the Jan. 23 shutout.
Barba came out on top in three games against Colby senior Madeline Dufour, while Jess Rubine tacked on the second of the Jumbos' two overall wins, defeating her opponent in three games and giving up just 13 points.
"We knew Colby would be tough because we played them already, but we did a lot better," Koo said. "Mercedes … played really smart and outwitted her opponent. She played the right shots at the right time and won in three."
The biggest disappointment of the weekend was the Jumbos' 9-0 loss to nationally ranked No. 23 Bowdoin in the opening match of the consolation bracket on Saturday. Only three Jumbos managed to force four or more games against the Polar Bears. Freshman Ushashi Basu, for one, played an impressive match versus junior Katie Boyce at the No. 7 spot, but fell 11-6 in the fifth game.
"We were hoping to beat Bowdoin," Koo said. "We couldn't win at the bottom of the ladder where we had wanted to."
The No. 25 Jumbos entered this past weekend's matches on the heels of a dominating 8-1 victory over No. 28 Northeastern, one in which all Jumbos save sophomore Alix Michael beat their opponents in straight sets.
With the Championships over, the Jumbos look forward to taking on Wellesley at Belmont Hill School this Thursday before the Howe Cup at Yale Feb. 26-28.
