W. Squash annihilates foes

The Penn's women's squash team was back in top form last night at home on the Ringe Squash Courts.

After a disappointing loss to Cornell in its season opener, the 2000 national champions and 2001 national fourth-place finishers crushed Haverford and Franklin and Marshall, 9-0 and 8-1, respectively.

In their shutout over Haverford, the Quakers didn't allow the Fords to take even a single point.

Franklin and Marshall's No. 1 seed handed the Quakers their only loss of the day, defeating Penn's No. 1, freshman Linda McNair.

"It was nice to get a win under our belt," Penn coach Jim Martel said. "All of the girls played really solidly."

The players are equally satisfied with their performance.

"We are all pleased with how we did [last night]," Penn freshman Clare O'Conner said. "We all played really well."

With their usual No. 1 player, junior Runa Reta, abroad this semester, and their No. 2, sophomore Dafna Wegner, out indefinitely with a hamstring injury, the young squad hopes to improve with every match.

"Some freshmen are starting to feel more confident," Martel said.

The players agree. "I think we're a lot more confident now," O'Connor said. "But it's going to be tough with our top two players out. Hopefully, when they're back, it will be a whole lot easier."

The Quakers hope to use this win as motivation for their upcoming Ivy League contests. They will face Yale and Brown this weekend at home.

"It was a good warm-up for the Ivy League matches," Martel said.

In order to prepare for the fierce Ancient Eight competition, the Quakers have increased the intensity of their practices.

"We still have to work on serve returns," Martel said. "We've been doing a lot of drills to work on our front game and lanes game."

The Red and Blue will face Yale at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and Brown at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday at the Ringe Courts.

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