Last Friday the women's squash team traveled to Yale University for the Howe Cup Championship. Four matches and numerous games later, the Big Green emerged with a fourth-place finish in a field of roughly 30 other colleges from across the country.
The Howe Cup represents the national team championship for women's college squash. Harvard defeated Princeton for the championship this year, Brown finished third and Dartmouth fourth.
This year's finish reaffirms what the women have been showing throughout their season -- Dartmouth women's squash is something it has not been for quite a while.
Friday, the women faced the Princeton Tigers, who defeated the Big Green 9-0 earlier this season. The excitement peaked this time when "it was three-all with three matches in progress," co-Captain Jenny Gallagher '96 said. The women eventually turned in a 3-6 loss to Princeton.
Laurie Sykes '99 led the tournament lineup, with Heather Duckworth '98 following. Jenny Johnson '99 played number three, Jen Karlen '98 number four and Melissa McCollum '96 number five. Positions six through nine were filled, respectively, by Gallagher, co-Captain Trisha Cunningham '96, Andra Winokur '99 and Victoria McEvoy '97.
Karlen, Gallagher, and McEvoy won against Princeton.
The women met Penn Friday night. With eight matches completed, the score was 4-4 with wins from McCollum, Gallagher, Winokur and McEvoy. Cunningham then came through with a big win to put the Big Green on top, 5-4.
"We've had a rivalry [with Penn] for the past few years," Gallagher said. "We battled it out. I was definitely very happy." Two losses to Penn earlier in the season (2-7, 4-5) made this victory even more enjoyable.
Saturday the women faced Trinity. Sykes, Karlen, McCollum, Gallagher, Cunningham and Winokur all handed in victories to bring the Big Green to a 6-3 win.
Competition against Trinity was especially exciting, with the Big Green winning five of six five game matches.
Sunday found the Big Green preparing to face Brown. A 3-6 loss to the Bears landed the women with a fourth place finish in the tournament. Wins against Brown came from Duckworth, Gallagher and McEvoy.
The tournament is divided into four divisions of eight schools. Last year the women played in the second division; the previous year they finished eighth in the first division.
"I think the results reflect everyone's hard work," Gallagher said. "Everyone was so positive. The freshmen add so much to the team."
The Howe Cup marks the end of the regular season for all but the top four players, who will go on to play in the individual championships March 1-3 at Trinity.
Sykes, Duckworth, Johnson and Karlen will face the nation's best players and compete for 20 all-American spots and for the individual national championship.
