W. Squash goes one-for-two

The Penn women's squash team is slowly grinding away this year, while perhaps setting the stage for a monumental turnaround next season.

The Quakers(3-8) started their weekend at the Amherst Invitational with an impressive 7-2 victory over host Amherst before running into trouble against Williams and falling to the Ephs, 6-3.

Especially solid for Penn in both matches were All-American Runa Reta and sophomore Dafna Wegner, who each won two matches. Katie Fetter also posted victories against both Amherst and Williams.

Although only Reta, Wegner, and Fetter notched victories against Williams, several others contributed in the thrashing of Amherst.

A trio of freshman Hanna Yoon, Clare O'Connor and Rohini Gupta scored triumphs as did Penn's most veteran member, Alex Black.

The team won its first match of 2002 over Amherst in convincing fashion. Penn has had its fair share of tough luck this season, losing a handful of close games both in and out of the conference -- making the Quakers hot start in the new year even more significant.

The Quakers are extremely young this season, with only one senior and two juniors on the roster.

"We've lost a lot of close games this year, but we're gaining lots of experience," Penn sophomore Quincy Riley said.

Black -- Penn's lone senior -- agreed with her teammate.

"This year is a very different experience," Black said. "We have six new freshmen and a new coach. It's sort of like starting over," she said.

Although the Quakers have yet to win a game in Ivy League play, the marked improvement the inexperienced Penn team has shown is evidenced by their improvement against league-foe Cornell. Dropping the first meeting to the Big Red, the Quakers were crushed 7-2 on Nov. 17. Penn recovered to battle Cornell in the second contest, barely falling 5-4 in the rematch last weekend.

And now with the victory over Amherst under its belt, the Quakers seem ready to pick up a few more victories.

But before Penn gets back to team play, next up for the Quakers is a trip to Constable Invitational in Princeton, N.J., this weekend.

Last season, the Quakers fared quite well at the annual meet.

Reta had an exceptionally strong showing in her sophomore campaign -- posting a third place finish, losing to the eventual champion, Julia Beaver.

After the Invitational, the Quakers are slated to take on a trio of Ivy foes -- Princeton, Harvard and Dartmouth in consecutive weeks.

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