COURTESY SPORTS PUBLICITY Hosting the Howe Cup, the Elis hope to show off their midseason improvement.

Women's squash is looking for revenge as they host the prestigious Howe Cup

The team is 2-3 in the Ivies and 10-4 overall. However, two of their losses were prior to the team's addition of Laura Keating, ES '01. Keating, the 1998 Australian Junior National Champion, has had an incredible impact on the team, especially since she plays at the No. 1 spot, allowing the remainder of the team to play the other teams' lower-ranked players. "Having Laura strengthens our whole team because she allows everyone to play down one spot on the ladder," Colleen Terry, SM '02, said. Keating is undefeated thus far this season, Besides her contribution to Yale's winning record, she further helps the team because, as Terry said, "she raises everyone's standards. She is incredible and her play encourages us to raise our level of play."

Aside from Keating, the rest of the team has performed consistently well this season. "The overall team play has been very strong lately," Terry said. In particular, Captain Loren Smith, SY '00, has been reliable at the No. 2 position, as well as Kate Sands, CC '02, who has dominated while playing No. 8, having lost only one match all season. "Kate has had an incredible season," Terry said. "She performs well no matter where she plays on the ladder." The consistently strong play from all team members is encouraging and gives the Bulldogs confidence as they head into this crucial weekend.

W. Squash

Record: 10-4, 2-3 Ivy Recent Results: Lost at Princeton, 5-4 Sat., Feb. 5. Coming Up: Howe Cup, Fri., Feb. 18, through Sun., Feb. 20, at PWG.

Despite the team's sixth-place seeding, the Bulldogs are optimistic about the weekend. "We may be seeded sixth, but we are looking to finish higher, preferably in fourth place," said Smith. "We are all very ready for this weekend and have been preparing all year for this tournament. This weekend is the climax of the season." In addition to overcoming its low seeding, Yale is concentrating on avenging its loss to Dartmouth earlier this season. "We are hoping to play Dartmouth at some point in the Howe Cup because we want to have another chance to beat them after our heartbreaking 5-4 loss earlier this year," said Sands. Also, most collegiate squash players view the Howe Cup as the culmination of the season, and its results are more meaningful than those of the Ivy season. "The Howe Cup national championship is a bigger deal that the actual Ivy League standing because it just seems to be more important," Terry said. "Last year we did worse in the Howe Cup than in the regular season standings, and it was very disappointing." The Bulldogs have a great deal of pride on the line this weekend, as well as a chance at revenge.

This year's Howe Cup will be the first to be played at the new Brady Squash Center. The Brady Center boasts state-of-the-art facilities that were remodeled over the past year to meet new international standards. As one of the finest squash centers in the world, the Center now includes 15 new singles courts, three of which are exhibition courts with glass walls. With or without the new squash center, the Howe Cup has been played at Yale since 1973, and is one of the most coveted prizes in women's squash. Betty Howe of Princeton and Ann Wetzel of Pennsylvania started the Howe Cup, using a trophy donated by Betty Howe's mother, and the tournament was originally divided into intercollegiate and inter-city divisions. Yale was selected to host the tournament, and thus the tradition began.

Coach Mark Talbott and the women's squash players have a huge task ahead of them, but they have been preparing for this weekend all season. "We haven't made any changes in practice this week to cater especially to this weekend's competition, but we are all preparing mentally for our matches, and individually concentrating on what we need to improve in our game," Smith said. The Bulldogs will be able to gauge their improvement because they have so far competed against all of the Ivy League teams except Harvard.

Although a national championship may be beyond their grasp this weekend, the team is ready to showcase its talent and prove that it is able to play with the best teams in the nation. Terry said, "We have been preparing for this weekend the entire season, and it is the culmination of our year. We want to play up to our potential." And with the kind of optimism and drive that the Bulldogs have, their goals will most certainly be met.

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