It seems too cliché to call a win a team effort, but Tuesday's squash matches at the Kate Brodsky Squash Pavilion were a reminder that each member of a team plays an equal role in the team's success as depth proved to be the deciding factor. The women's team defeated Mount Holyoke College 6-3, followed immediately by a 9-0 rout of Amherst College. The three-game win-streak gives the Bears a 3-4 record for the season. Meanwhile, the men's team defeated Amherst (7-2), for their first victory in six tries during this season.
Against the Lyons (7-2), Brown's strength came from the bottom of the ladder. Mount Holyoke's top three players, all from Sri Lanka, handled Bruno's top three, Megan Cerullo '08, Laura Pyne '10, and Charlotte Steel '09 (9-2, 9-3, 9-3), (9-3, 4-9, 9-4, 9-4), and (9-7, 9-1, 9-3), respectively. Fortunately for the Bears, the bottom two-thirds of their squad was very strong, and the scores became more lopsided in Bruno's favor as the matches moved down the ladder. Lily Cohen '11 looked particularly strong, dominating her opponent, 9-1, 9-0, 9-1, by dictating play completely.
"Our team's depth has always been notable about Brown," said co-captain Minoo Fadaifard '08, who won both her matches handily. "We rely on the bottom of our team for close matches."
Depth is important for Bruno because they do not recruit internationally. Other schools, like Mount Holyoke, are able to recruit a good top-two or -three players from abroad, but the Bears are able to get victories because it takes five individual matches to win.
"Its hard for our top-one or-two players to compete with international players who have played in international competition," Fadaifard said.
Against Amherst, it was a different story. Brown dominated up and down the ladder, and each of the players who lost against the Lyons, with the exception of Steel who did not play, bounced back for a decisive win against the Lord Jeffs. The rest of the team stayed strong, dropping only one game against Amherst (5-6). The bottom six players dropped only five points combined to their opponents.
"Everyone had played well the past three matches," said co-captain Cerullo. "Nobody underestimated their opponents. We had a couple of people injured who thought about sitting out (the second match) but didn't."
Breck Haynes '09 squeezed out a 9-2, 9-5, 4-9, 9-5 win in her second match despite limping slightly on a tender left leg.
The Bears' first victory came last weekend at home against Cornell, 6-3. Brown played one other match over intersession, falling 9-0 to No. 5 ranked Trinity College.
The men's team also showed its depth against the Lord Jeffs. Adam Greenberg '10 and Ross Harrow '11 lost at the second and third positions 1-9, 6-9, 9-3, 10-9, 9-4, and 9-6, 9-0, 9-6 respectively. Greenberg dominated early on, but a blister opened up on his left foot in the third game. His opponent, Mark Rapisarda, took advantage by moving Greenberg around with a number of drop shots, and came back to win in five games.
Fortunately, the back end of the ladder picked up the slack again. Pat Davis '10 came back from a 7-0 deficit in his first game to win 10-8. The comeback gave Davis confidence and spurred him to a 10-8, 9-1, 4-9, 9-5 victory at No. 7.
"I'm a very streaky player," Davis said. "It's not that infrequent that I get down. It's taken a long time (for me) to get to the point where (I) can be down 7-0 and come back."
Davis' mental victory is reflective of the team's mental toughness which will be important as Brown heads into the meat of its schedule in the next few weeks.
"At this point in the season, the technical side of the game is done," Davis said. "We have been playing for three or four months and technically, we are where we are going to be. We just have to keep focused. Squash is the most mental game besides golf that I've played."
Head Coach Stuart leGassick also pointed out the importance of mental toughness, especially since Bruno always starts its season with some of the best competition in the country. The men's team pulled out just one individual match win in its five losses early in the season, including two 9-0 losses to Trinity and Cornell over the intersession. Bruno played national top-five teams in each of its first four matches.
"It's not easy (starting with such tough competition)" leGassick said. "It's okay as long as they don't look at the outcome and just compete even if it's to just get four rallies in a row."
The players sometimes have a hard time dealing with early blowouts.
"It's so demoralizing when you start out playing the best teams in the country every year," said a frustrated Davis.
Still, the staunch competition is crucial for building up to the competitive matches later in the season. Cerullo, Brown's No. 1, has played some of the best players in the country and feels that helps her game later in the season.
"I always like playing tough competition" Cerullo said. "It gets you playing at a higher level and it's easier for more competitive matches."
The Bears will look to take the momentum gained by the wins and continue improving as they head into their very competitive matches in the next few weeks. Both men and women will travel to Bowdoin on Saturday. The men will face Bowdoin and Colby while the women will square-off with Bowdoin, Bates and St. Lawrence.
