PHILADELPHIA - The University of Pennsylvania women's squash team (5-0) relied on Lindsay Stanley to pull through once again on Sunday and once again, the junior came through. Behind Stanley's come from behind victory in the fifth game, the Quakers defeated No. 12 Virginia, 5-4, at the Kline and Specter Squash Center to complete the weekend trifecta and improve to 5-0.

How it Happened

The Quakers have rarely done things the easy way this season. It took a 5-4 dramatic comeback to defeat no. 9 Drexel and another 5-4 win to take down no. 4 Stanford. Playing their third match in three days, Penn would again need to dig deep to come out with a win. 

In the first round of matches, the Red and Blue got wins from Jessica Davis and Julia Buchholz who remained solid at the top of the line-up. Davis got a 3-0 win to give the Quakers an early point. Buchholz meanwhile started slow, losing the first game 11-5. The sophomore then played her best squash in the big moments in the second as she saved two game balls to come back and win 12-10, tying the match at a game apiece. Buchholz lost just ten points the rest of the way, winning the remaining two games 11-3, 11-7 to win 3-1. 

Penn would go into the final shift of matches down 3-2 much like two days earlier against Stanford. With quick match wins from Reeham Salah and Jamila Tamer, the Quakers went up 4-3 and needed just one more match to clinch.

It looked like that match would come from Lindsay Stanley who went up 2-0, but just when it looked like the junior would come out with a straight-forward 3-0 win, Virginia's Tara Arya fought back to tie it at 2-2.

The match would come down to a fifth and final game.

Stanley had been in this position just a week prior as she won in a fifth game against Drexel to clinch the match for the Quakers. In that match, the junior fought back from 2-0 down herself, coming out with a win. 

The final game didn't go Stanley's way to start as she went down 6-1 early. However, she did not stop fighting. Stanley took seven of the next nine points to tie the game at 8-8. Down 9-10 and match ball, the junior saved it as the ball hit the tin for 10-10. Stanley then won the next two points that included a backhand winner to take the match 3-2 and clinch victory for the second time this season. 

In the final match of the day, Nicole Windreich fought back from 2-0 down to tie her match 2-2, but came up just short in the final game. 

What's Next

The Quakers are 5-0 for the first time since 2014-15 when they won the Ivy League title. Penn won't be back in action until after the new year on January 12 when they travel to Yale. 

Results

1. Reeham Salah (PENN) d. default (UVA) - 11-4,11-4,11-2
2. Jessica Davis (PENN) d. Emily Woodworth (UVA) - 11-8,11-5,11-8
3. Jamila Tamer (PENN) d. Caroline Baldwin (UVA) - 11-6,11-9,11-6
4. Julia Buchholz (PENN) d. Amanda Haywood (UVA) - 5-11,12-10,11-3,11-7
5. Lindsay Stanley (PENN) d. Tara Arya (UVA) - 11-4,11-6,6-11,6-11,12-10
6. Diane Tyson (UVA) d. Clare Kearns (PENN) - 12-10,14-12,11-8
7. Sarah Doss (UVA) d. Nicole Windreich (PENN) - 17-15,11-3,11-13,9-11,11-6
8. Giovanna Veiga (UVA) d. Margaret Frantz (PENN) - 11-7,11-5,11-7
9. Eleanor Carroll (UVA) d. Margaret Brody (PENN) - 11-5,11-1,11-6