Reta propels W. Squash at Constable

Penn senior squash player Runa Reta picked up her first loss of the season in the finals of the Constable Invitational, falling to defending national champion Amina Helal of Trinity in a rematch from earlier this month. The Constable Tournament was played from Jan. 24-26 at Princeton's Jadwin Gymnasium and featured the top-ranked squash players in the country, including No. 1 Helal and teammate No. 2 Lynn Leong. Reta was joined by junior Dafna Wegner and sophomore Linda McNair in the Invitational of the tournament -- the most prestigious division within the tournament -- while nine other Quakers received invitations to the Individual Tournament. Reta, who was seeded No. 1 in the tournament, defeated Annie Rein-Weston of Princeton, Trinity's Larissa Stephenson and Leong to reach the final round -- a matchup against Helal. The two battled just two weeks ago at the Ringe Squash Courts, and Reta was able to knock off Helal. At the Constable, however, it was Helal who prevailed, after dropping the second game, she played a strong final two, winning 9-6 and 9-5 to take the overall match, 3-1. Also playing well in the Invitational was Wegner, who won her opening match before dropping the quarterfinal to Helal, 3-0. McNair lost her first round match to Princeton freshman Ruchika Kumar. Despite her loss in the finals, Reta had a positive view of the weekend's tournament. "I think we all played pretty well," she said. "Especially considering that it was an individual event, which is a little different than what we're used to. It was a good opportunity for us to play in our individual divisions." Advancing to the quarterfinal round of the 3.5 Singles Competition -- the lowest division -- was Penn junior Katie Fetter, playing for only the second time this season. She defeated both Karley Biggs and Suzy Schwarts, 3-0. In the 4.5 Singles -- the intermediate division -- freshman Melissa Cosgrave reached the quarterfinals as well with victories over Jesse Galitzin, 3-0, and Annie Warner, 3-1. Also in the 4.5, freshmen Lizzie O'Neil and Daily Pennsylvanian reporter Tyler Pearce reached the round of 16. The five others who rounded out the Quakers' roster for the weekend's Constable Tournament were freshmen Lilly Evans, Colleen Gurda, Morgan Olson, Lorin Riley and sophomore Rohini Gupta, each losing their division's first-round match. The Quakers will return to Jadwin Gym tomorrow to take on Princeton in a tough Ivy League matchup. The Tigers are currently fourth in the squashtalk.com team rankings while the Quakers stand at seventh.

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