After two straight weeks of friendly scrimmages without a single match, the women's squash team came away from the Epps Cup (D Division) at Yale University with a strong performance, defeating nationally ranked No. 32 Boston College and No. 28 Northeastern before falling to a talented opponent in No. 26 Columbia.
The Jumbos began the long weekend with an early morning match against Boston College (BC) on Friday, clipping the Eagles 9−0 overall and starting off the season−concluding tournament on the right foot. Only two of the matches lasted longer than three games. At the No. 7 spot, senior tri−captain Erin Bruynell came back from a 1−0 deficit against Eagle senior Caroline Cannon to win in four games, 6−11, 11−4, 11−3, 11−8.
Unfortunately for the Jumbos, though, freshman Madison Newbound, who typically plays at the No. 6 spot, had to sit out the weekend's tournament with a stomach ailment, forcing the squad to move the bottom of the ladder up one spot each. Because of this adjustment, senior Lauren Lanster played her first match of the season that contributed to the final score, assuming the No. 9 spot against the Eagles and defeating her opponent in straight sets.
"Lauren played really well for her first games that counted," Bruynell said. "I think we all played really well, but we expected to beat BC because they don't have the most skilled program."
Saturday's afternoon match against Northeastern mirrored the tempo that Tufts had set Friday morning, as it defeated the Huskies by a comfortable score of 8−1. Senior Sairah Mahmud had the most success, allowing only 11 points to her opponent at the No. 8 spot. Tufts' only loss came at the No. 1 slot, as junior tri−captain Valerie Koo fell to skilled junior Tessa Martin, the National Junior Squash champion of Trinidad and Tobago.
"Last time we played Northeastern, they didn't have their No. 1," Bruynell said. "This time we played up one spot, so we ended up facing players who were better than the players we played against last time."
Even though the Jumbos faced a more talented Husky lineup, they stepped up their game at all spots. Sophomore Alyse Vinoski, who suffered the Jumbos' only loss in the first Northeastern matchup, came back in this weekend's grudge match to take down her opponent in four games at No. 5.
"[The Huskies'] No. 1 and No. 3 are really strong," Koo said. "And the whole team won, which is what really counts."
The victory against the Huskies advanced Tufts to the finals of the Epps Cup as the No. 1 seed to take on No. 2 Columbia. Despite an impressive effort from the Tufts squad, the Jumbos were unable to pull off wins in the spots they had hoped to, falling to Columbia 7−2.
The sophomore class led the way for Tufts, as Vinoski took down Lion senior Monica Gorman in four sets, and Mercedes Barba followed up with a straight−set victory against junior Anne Cheng in the No. 3 spot. Freshman Jessica Rubine also had an impressive match as she forced a fifth game, but she eventually bowed to her opponent 11−8 in the final game at No. 4.
"I think we all played really hard considering Madison wasn't there at No. 6," Koo said. "So that was a pretty big disadvantage. We were pretty close at the top of the ladder, so when we didn't win we at least forced those games."
Both captains, though, felt that the effort from the Columbia match reflected well on the team's ability to perform amply regardless of the health of its players.
"We were hoping to win in the middle of the ladder since the bottom got pushed up one spot, and the top is pretty strong," Bruynell said. "I think everyone played their hardest. It was still a pretty tough match."
Even though the loss to Columbia marked the end of a losing season, the Jumbos made a substantial improvement since last semester. Tufts won five of its final nine matches after winning just one match before February and has only the CSA Individual Championships left this weekend, in which its top players will participate.
"We definitely played the best we could and improved a lot since first semester," Koo said. "The most important thing was that we had fun out there and we just played with a good attitude."
