The men's and women's squash teams may not be winning all their matches, but the scores alone certainly don't tell the whole story.
Last weekend in Dartmouth's Berry Racquet Center, both squads were shut out by Princeton, and the men fell 5-4 to University of Pennsylvania. Only the women recorded a win, beating Penn 6-3.
It should be considered, though, that Princeton is among the top teams in the country, and both Penn matches represented great improvements for the Big Green teams.
Melissa McCollum '96, who plays in the number four position for the women's team, said she was not surprised by the loss to Princeton, a team which many believe has a good chance of winning the national championship.
"The Princeton team was excellent and the scores don't really indicate how close some of the matches were," number eight player Betsy Allen '96 said.
The Lady Tigers gave up just one game to the Big Green, as Holly Parker '96 took the first game of her match before losing, 9-2, 7-9, 6-9, 2-9, at the sixth position.
"Though everyone lost, we fought hard and showed Princeton that we have improved greatly from the Ivy Scrimmage, the preseason tournament in November," Jennifer Gallagher '96 said.
Although the men also lost 9-0 to the defending national champion Tigers, Scott Campbell '96, who occupies the number one spot, said the team played very well. "They [Princeton] just has too much talent," he said.
The women's team rebounded Saturday with a 6-3 win against University of Pennsylvania, one which avenged a 5-4 loss to Penn earlier in the season.
"Both teams [Penn and Dartmouth] had dramatically improved since the fall," Allen said, "and so the higher quality of play in each of the individual matches made our victory all that much sweeter."
Lindsey Amon '94 notched a 3-0 win at the number two position, as did Nicole Artzer '94 at number three, Gallagher at number five and Maura Schneider '96 at number seven.
Other winners for the Big Green included McCollum, 3-1, at the number four spot and Holly Parker '96 at the sixth position.
The win brought the women's record to 4-4.
The men's team lost a close one to Penn, 5-4.
Craig Daily '94 grabbed a 3-2 win at the number three position, while Adrian Booth '95 won, 3-2, at number four.
At the eighth and ninth spots, Chris Campbell '96 and Chris Cho '96 earned victories for the Big Green, with a 3-2 and 3-1 win, respectively.
"The whole match was close to being an upset," Booth said. "That was the best the team has played in a while."
Campbell called the match an ego boost for the team, which he said had been struggling in the earlier part of the season. "We're looking strong for the end of the season," he said.
The loss brought the men's season record to 1-9.
The men's and women's teams both host Harvard this afternoon.
