Yale’s Logan Greer is all too familiar to the Penn women’s squash team. Both of the Quakers’ senior captains have battled the No. 1 Bulldogs player in tight five-game matches the last couple years.
Penn (2-0, 1-0 Ivy) will face Greer and her Yale team at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Ringe Courts in the first of a two-game Ancient Eight home stand (Brown will face Penn Sunday).
“I coached [Greer] at the World Juniors in 2007 and I have a great deal of respect for her,” coach Jack Wyant said. “She is a very strong player and a great mover on the court.”
Two years ago when the Quakers and Bulldogs (1-0, 0-0) faced off, Penn’s Sydney Scott took on the then No. 2 Greer, winning 3-0. So Wyant hopes history repeats.
In 2007 “she played one of the best matches of her career,” Wyant said. “She played close-to-flawless squash. Hopefully there is something about playing … at home with family around and friends supporting her. She will repeat that performance.”
Though the ladders are not set, the most likely matchup for Greer will be a rematch of the 2007 US Juniors in Seattle, when Penn’s Kristen Lange went on to the finals.
“If they end up playing Saturday, it can go either way,” Wyant said, “but it will definitely be a fabulous match.”
But Greer is only one of the many Bulldogs whom Penn has prepared to face.
“Yale is always a big one for us because they have a really solid lineup and a great coach,” senior Christina Matthias said. “They have a really good confidence about them and that is something we are really excited to match up against because we feel really confident too.”
While Penn may be riding a three-year win streak into Saturday’s match, Wyant is by no means overly confident.
“Yale use to drum us pretty good,” he said. “Though we have beat Yale the last couple years, we never take them lightly. They are very capable of beating us.”
In the second game of the weekend, Penn takes on a much less talented Brown team (0-1, 0-1) at 11 a.m. Sunday.
“We played them during Ivy scrimmages, and I think we are definitely a stronger team than them,” Matthias said.
Yet no matter the opponent, the team does not waver in the way they prepare. And such a regiment has them confident that they can emerge with a pair of victories.
“If we play to the best of our ability and to our potential, and each kid focuses on their game plan and the tactical things we have been working on,” Wyant said, “then I am confident that we will have success.”
Penn is hopeful and excited to pull out a pair of crucial league victories in a rare weekend of back-to-back home games.
“We are excited to be at home and play in the Ivy League,” Matthias said. “We are hoping to attract a big crowd. We are all playing really well right now, and we want to carry that into the weekend.”
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