W. Squash | The coach can play, but can they?

It's a good thing that coaches can't play for their teams.

If they could, the Penn women's squash team would be facing a tough task in tonight's match at Franklin and Marshall. The Diplomats' men's and women's head coach, John White, was ranked No. 1 in the world in March 2004, and retired from professional squash in October as No. 17.

White once hit a ball that was clocked at 172 MPH - a world record.

Instead of taking on White, the Quakers will face a Franklin and Marshall team that is far from record-breaking. The No. 27 Diplomats (1-5) are searching for inspiration after losing their last two matches 9-0. Penn (5-0) enters the match with an undefeated record and a national No. 2 ranking.

The two teams last met in 2007. Penn won convincingly, 9-0 - an all-too familiar score for the struggling Diplomats.

Freshman Ellie Foster leads Franklin and Marshall in a starting lineup that features three seniors, two sophomores and four freshman. They went 4-13 last year and look to continue the rebuilding process, as evidenced by their unusually large nineteen-woman roster.

The Quakers have a history of success in their first post-winter break match. They have lost that match just once in the past five years.

This trend should easily continue this year, as Franklin and Marshall has won one game or less in five of its six matches this year. Ironically, its only victory was a shutout of St. Lawrence.

Both teams have not played a match since early December. However, do not expect the experienced Quakers to show signs of rust.

"[Coach Jack Wyant] gave us a workout schedule," senior co-captain Alisha Turner said. "We had to play a certain number of matches each week. Girls in Philly met up and played."

The team has been practicing officially since Jan. 6. The focus has been match readiness and fundamentals.

"We've been playing challenge matches and sharpening our skills," Turner said.

Looking ahead, Penn has four more matches before its contest against No. 1 Princeton. However, compared to the strong competition the Quakers faced before the break, these matches - especially tonight's matchup against the Diplomats - aren't the meat of the schedule.

"We think about our schedule, it's much more front loaded," Wyant said. "Our kids work hard over break and historically we come out of the box strong."

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