W. Squash coasts to Division B title at Howe Cup

The Penn women's squash team made the best of a bad situation last weekend.

Playing in the B Division of the Howe Cup -- the Squash National Championship -- the Quakers went 3-0 and won the division in convincing fashion.

"We all thought we should have been ranked in the top division," Penn sophomore Katie Fetter said. "We were playing with a lot of injuries [earlier in the season]."

Indeed, the Quakers had several players on the shelf for different parts of the season -- including Dafna Wegner and Hanna Yoon. In addition, Penn's No. 1, Runa Reta, was abroad for the fall semester.

Partly due to those injuries, the Quakers had a lackluster record of 3-8 overall and 0-4 in the Ivy League, and so they did not qualify for the chance to compete in Division A.

Last season, the Quakers were finished fourth in the nation. The year before, they won the Howe Cup and therefore, were crowned National Champions.

Although the Quakers entered the competition in New Haven, Conn., with a five-match losing streak, they turned it around on the weekend.

On Friday, the Red and Blue came out strong and routed Colby College, 7-2. Penn's No. 1 Runa Reta, who is ranked fourth in the nation, defeated the Chargers' Fraser Ross with ease, 9-0, 9-0, 9-2.

All in all, the Quakers only lost at the No. 8 and No. 9 positions and won in three sets in six of their victories.

After the decisive victory over Colby, the Quakers faced off against Amherst, a team that the Quakers split with, winning, 7-2, on Jan. 19, and falling, 6-3, the following day.

But on Saturday, the Quakers were unstoppable, dropping the Lord Jeffs with the same 7-2 score.

Wegner -- who is ranked No. 9 in the nation -- had a perfect day, defeating the Jeffs' Roopali Argwal, 9-0, 9-0, 9-0, to lead the Quakers.

The Quakers' victories did not stop in the B Division finals, held on Sunday.

The Quakers routed Bates College, 8-1, to capture the B Division championship.

Reta had the perfect game this time, annihilating the Bobcats' Aisa Shah 9-0, 9-0, 9-0, while Linda McNair -- ranked No. 13 nationally -- defeated Kristen Brush, 9-0, 9-6, 9-1.

"Basically a lot of people were disappointed coming into Howe Cup," Penn sophomore Quincy Riley said. "But I personally just wanted to finish the season on a really good note.

"I think it was a really good way to end out season. We just got to play good squash."

In Division A, Trinity College (Conn.) defeated Harvard, 5-4, to capture the championship.

With their Division B championship, the Quakers finished the season ranked No. 9 nationally.

"Given a perfect scenario, it would have been a possibility to win a few games in the top division," Riley said. "But, there are some things that are beyond our control."

Although the Quakers did not get to compete for the championship, they did bounce back from an injury-plagued season to finish strong at Howe Cup.

On March 1, Reta, Wegner and McNair will travel to Princeton, N.J. to compete in Women's Squash Intercollegiates -- the individual championships.

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