The women’s squash team will be look to recover from two straight losses to No. 2 Trinity and No. 4 Princeton when it travels to Providence, R.I., to face No. 10 Brown this coming Saturday.
After losing to the Tigers last week, the Elis (8–3, 2–2 Ivy) have slipped one spot in the national rankings to No. 5. Despite not having won a match since Jan. 17, the Bulldogs are determined and focused on bouncing back against the Bears (3–6, 0–4 Ivy), who are currently winless in the Ivy League.
“I think we have gotten over the fact that Princeton was a tough loss, and we have realized that there is still a lot of squash left to play,” Katie Ballaine ’13 said. “Our coaches are great in terms of morale boosting, and with their encouragement and a lot of team meetings, our energy has gradually improved throughout the week.”
Head coach David Talbott said he is confident in his team’s ability to regroup and earn a victory against a struggling Brown team.
“Brown is one of the weaker teams in the league at this point,” Talbott said. “We need to work on some things against Brown and use the match as a good preparation for Harvard.”
Yale will be facing the undefeated Crimson (6–0, 3–0 Ivy) on Feb. 13. Harvard is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation and the Crimson have only dropped a total of three individual matches, for a combined mark of 51–3 across six matches.
Still, Ballaine insists that the team’s focus remains on this weekend’s match.
“I don’t think we are overlooking Brown by any means, but we have been playing very well lately,” Ballaine said. “Brown is a good team regardless of their record, and we realize that.”
Players said the remainder of the team’s regular season matches will help them to gear up for the Howe Cup on Feb. 26 — the national championship tournament for women’s college teams. The Elis have not won the tournament since 2006, which completed a three-year run that began in 2004.
The match against Brown is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. at the Pizzitola Squash Courts in Providence.