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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Friday, March 29, 2024

Howe Cup yields mixed feelings at end of season

The women's squash team closed out its season last weekend in the Howe Cup battling its opponents like it has all season long.

Playing at Yale University, the Jumbos defeated Smith College 6-3 in the first round on Friday, but fell 8-1 to a tough Middlebury team on Saturday. The women then lost to William Smith on Sunday, 6-3, to close out their season.

The William Smith match was a tough one for the Jumbos to swallow. Freshman Jules Avrutin lost in a tight match at the number one spot, (9-7, 9-5, 9-6), and senior tri-captain Leigh Checchio lost in three games at number two. Junior Nicole Arens put up a strong fight at the number three position, but ended up dropping a tense five game match (9-5, 4-9, 7-9, 9-2, 9-4).

"I felt I played pretty well," Arens said. "I really started to pick it up in the middle of the match. It was scheduled early so it took me a little time to get it going. Unfortunately my opponent started attacking the front court a little more towards the end and just played a bit better."

Senior tri-captain AJ Crane, junior tri-captain Eliza Drachman-Jones, and sophomore Zoe Bolesta all lost in three games at the four, five, and six positions, respectively.

Although Tufts dropped the first six matches, it came back strong to win the bottom three. Freshman Liz Thys won in three games at number seven. Sophomore Joelle Polivy also won with relative ease at number eight, and junior Rhonda Barkan was victorious at number nine.

Despite the tough loss, coach Doug Eng was proud of his team.

"We did play better on Friday and Saturday, but we still played solidly on Sunday against William Smith," he said. "The girls gave it everything they had. You couldn't ask for anything more from them. They should be happy with the way they played."

Eng had said before the Middlebury match that the team would have to play almost flawlessly to defeat the Panthers on Saturday. The Jumbos played very well, but it still was not enough to knock off their feisty opponents.

Avrutin and Checchio both lost in three games at the top two spots. Arens was involved in another battle, but she lost in four games. Crane and Drachman-Jones also lost in three games. Bolesta was involved in a tight, five-game match, but she couldn't quite eke out a victory. Thys and Polivy lost very close four-game matches at the seventh and eighth positions.

Barkan pulled out the lone victory for the Jumbos.

"Middlebury just matched up too well against us," Eng said. "There were a lot of close matches; 8-1 was not indicative of how close a match this was."

On Friday, Tufts played well enough to beat Smith, 6-3, despite losses in the top two spots. Avrutin ended up losing in five close games while Checchio lost in a four-game match. Though they did not triumph over their opponents, both Avrutin and Checchio showed improvement from their previous meeting with Smith earlier in the season.

"Both Jules and Leigh really stepped it up again," Eng said. "We played Smith earlier in the season and both of them played a lot better this time."

Arens pulled off an impressive victory at number three, winning in four games.

"Nicole also showed a tremendous improvement from last time against Smith," Eng said. "Nicole turned a five game loss last time into a four game win."

"I was really happy with my play in the Smith match," Arens said. "Last time I played that opponent I was sort of worn down by an earlier match against Amherst and it was a bit of an upset."

Crane fell in four games, but Drachman-Jones picked up the slack, winning at number five. The rest of the Jumbos dispensed of Smith with ease, winning positions six through nine without any Jumbo dropping a game.

The Howe Cup marked the end of the season for the women, but Eng was impressed with the way his team handled itself all season, especially after a season-ending injury to number two player Erica Adler.

"The girls really stepped it up after Erica's injury," Eng said. "Everyone elevated their play and just played beautiful squash in the last three weeks. They have a lot to be proud of."

Arens echoed Eng's positive statements towards the team.

"I just thought our team played awesome," she said. "[It] really put forth a strong effort all season long."