The women's squash team split a pair of weekend matches, picking up a crucial win over perennial rival William Smith before falling in a winnable match to NESCAC foe Hamilton.
The Jumbos witnessed undefeated weekends from three players as they came up with an 8-1 drubbing over William Smith for their biggest win since 2003 in the first half of the Saturday doubleheader. The teams' three previous meetings had all been 5-4 decisions, with the Herons coming out on top 2-1.
"We always have really close matches with them, and we killed them on Saturday," senior co-captain Rebecca Rice said. "That was a big win for us."
But absences and illnesses crippled the lineup, which was without three of its top 10 players. Several people moved into new and unfamiliar spots and the personnel problems contributed to a 6-3 loss to Hamilton in the afternoon. Following the weekend, the Jumbos found themselves 7-3 overall.
"We played really well, but it was frustrating because we didn't have everyone there, and half the people that were there were really sick," assistant coach Kelsey Engman said. "These were big matches, and we definitely could have won both of them if we'd had everyone there."
Playing in a five-court set against William Smith, the Jumbos sealed the win quickly as junior No. 2 Victoria Barba, freshman No. 4 Valerie Koo, junior No. 6 Jess Herrmann and freshman No. 8 Katie Stork all won their matches in straight games.
Sophomore Laura Cullen, who would normally have suited up at No. 4, and freshman No. 7 Margaret Fisher were both missing, while freshman No. 10 Allie Dempsey was sidelined with a back injury. Stork moved up to No. 8 and junior Caroline Choi made her first appearance of the season at No. 9.
"[Junior Stefanie Marx and Cullen] had played a really close challenge match and they're kind of interchangeable [at No. 3], so it didn't really affect the top of the ladder as much," Engman said. "But on the bottom, all of a sudden people who hadn't played all year were playing in two of our biggest matches, and that's a lot of pressure."
Both Stork and Choi responded with wins over William Smith. Stork topped junior Ali Haseotes in straight games 9-3, 9-7, 9-6, and Choi outlasted junior Eliza Braendel, rallying in the final minutes to squeak out a five-game win by a score of 9-3, 9-3, 2-9, 3-9, 10-8.
"Caroline had a sweet fifth game," Rice said. "She was down 2-8 in the fifth game and won it. It's basically impossible to mount a comeback like that and she did it."
Rice posted a solid win herself at the top, a 9-0, 10-8, 9-1 decision over William Smith senior Lucy Ross, one of six straight-game wins on the day.
With the momentum of the William Smith match, Tufts moved on to face Hamilton. The two teams found themselves locked in a four-way tie for a No. 13 national ranking and jockeying for position in this weekend's NESCAC Championships, so the match offered a chance for the Jumbos to put some distance between themselves and the Continentals.
Herrmann and Koo, coming off straight-game victories in the earlier match, both gutted out five-game wins at Nos. 4 and 6 to keep the Jumbos in striking distance after the first round of matches.
"Those were huge wins," Rice said. "In five gamers, it's not just about who's the better squash player, who's the better athlete, who's more fit. It's in your head. You have to be tough, and they were."
"Going into the second set of matches, two of us had come out with five-game wins, and one of us had come out with a five-game loss, so we knew it was close," Herrmann said. "Everyone was anxious and excited going into the second set of matches, because there was that potential. It was still anyone's match."
But after junior Simone Grant fell at No. 7, the Jumbos needed an unlikely sweep from its Nos. 1, 3 and 5 players. Marx posted her second victory of the weekend with another five-game gem, but Rice fell 9-0, 9-2, 9-4 at No. 1 to Hamilton sophomore Kelly Whipple and senior Micela Lies fell in four games at No. 5 to senior Natalie Schwerin.
"The only way to stay with someone that good is to play the lengths so they can't keep shooting," Rice said of her own match. "You have to put it into the back corners, and I didn't really do that until the third game."
The Jumbos' four five-game matches - wins for Koo, Herrmann and Marx, and a close loss for Barba - reflected the changes the team has made to its practice conditioning. Engman has designed new sprint workouts and was pleased with the dividends she saw on Saturday.
"Valerie, Victoria, Jess and Stef all went to five games and we won three of those, and Victoria was right in it until the end," Engman said. "It's good for us to show that all the work we've been doing in practice is paying off."
Up next for the Jumbos are this weekend's NESCAC Championships, hosted at Wesleyan and No. 1 seed shoo-in Trinity. Following the Bantams, the best squash program in the nation, is Williams, and then a dropoff as the remaining nine schools fill in the bracket. The bracket is set to be released tomorrow.
"We're very excited to come into NESCACs," Herrmann said. "We're hoping to play Hamilton again with a full, healthy squad and show them that we're still here, that we still want it. I think we are the better team, and hopefully we get another chance to show it."
