The team has coped admirably with the loss of celebrated longtime Head Coach Jackie Bagwell, who was replaced this year by Tom Carmean, the former co-head coach of the men's team and head coach of the men's lacrosse team.
Another challenge the team regularly contends with is a lack of recruits. As a result, the team relies on talented newcomers with little or no prior competitive experience. This means that the players are constantly learning and improving with every match. "We have really gelled and formed a close-knit team who supports each other on and off the court. Our record does not reflect our attitude about the team or our commitment to improving," said senior co-captain Lauren Coape-Arnold.
When the fall semester ended, the women's squash team had started their winter season with an even split: a strong win against Northeastern University followed by an equally strong loss to third-ranked Trinity College. The then 11th-ranked women's squad followed the Trinity game with a tough match against Tufts University, ranked 16th. Junior Caroline Shannon set the tone of the match for the Jeffs at the number-one spot. After dropping the first two games 6-9, Shannon was able to refocus for a close third game a 10-8 win, after which she mopped up 9-4, 9-5. The team was able to follow suit and pulled out a 6-3 victory. Following this was a reprieve as the Jeffs easily blanked Smith College 9-0, with no Pioneer gaining more than five points.
Matches were close against 12th-ranked Bowdoin College and 16th-ranked Middlebury College. Junior Abby Mantica had a solid match against her Polar Bear at the number-four slot, winning in just three sets 9-7, 9-5, 9-7. Emily O'Brien '07 was also able to outlast her opponent at number two, but was the only other Jeff to do so as the team lost 7-2 in a well-fought match.
At the Amherst Invitational the team suffered a thorough 9-0 beating at the hands of the University of Pennsylvania, ranked sixth in the nation, but bounced back in their second match of the day against Middlebury. O'Brien and Shannon were both able to win in three sets, and Junior Sarah Harper made a tremendous effort at the five spot to pull out a five game win. Though the other Jeffs fell under the Panthers pressure, they went kicking. Sophomore Di Kirkwood and senior co-captain Scotty Hanley both challenged their opponents to close five-game matches.
Eighth-ranked Dartmouth College swept the Jeffs 9-0, followed by another blank by seventh-ranked Brown University. The team looked to their next match against Cornell University to stop their six-game slide. Traditionally this match is a close one, and last year the Big Red edged the Jeffs twice in close confrontations. This year, however, despite close games, only Hanley was able to take a match. After winning the first game 9-7, Hanley was able to keep up her momentum even after faltering 3-9 in the second game to finish the match 9-5, 9-5 for the Jeffs.
Fortunately, the Jeffs launched the calendar year right in a gratifying match against Colby College, ranked 18th in the nation. Mantica and number-six player Harper came back from 6-9 first sets to beat their Mule foes, and Shannon won her match in three strong sets. Coape-Arnold had a disappointing first game, 3-9, but bounced back to win the second 10-8. "After winning the second game in a tiebreaker, I knew I had the upper hand. I went into the third game using a different serve to exploit on her weakness at serve returns," said Coape-Arnold. Her strategy paid off as she was able to defeat her opponent 9-3, 9-4. With the score tied 4-4, Kirkwood came through for the team. After losing her first game 7-9, she finished 9-5, 9-4, 9-1 and secured a 5-4 win for the squad.
"It is great for us to have that win with the end of the season tournaments coming up in the next few weeks (NESCACs and the Howe Cup). We will have a better seeding and more confidence in our abilities as a team," said Shannon. While Interterm held a difficult program for the Jeffs, the players are far from disheartened. "All of my teammates are so eager to improve that this season has been a pleasure so far.Playing with a group of highly motivated and fun girls is way more important than winning," says Coape-Arnold. Nevertheless, she does see more wins in the future. "The matches against Bowdoin and Middlebury were close, and I think it's only a matter of time before we will beat them. ."
The women's squash team returns to action this Saturday at Wesleyan University.