Headed into the Howe Cup, the national championship of women's squash, Coach Satinder Bajwa believed that the 4th-seeded Crimson had been made stronger by its recent setbacks to Penn, Princeton and Trinity, and that his team was capable of avenging those losses.

Harvard was much improved, from the first position all the way down to the ninth.

But it was not enough to reclaim the national title. After an expectedly easy 9-0 victory over 5th-seed Dartmouth on Friday, the Crimson fell just short of a huge upset against No. 1 Penn on Saturday afternoon, falling 5-4. Then on Sunday, Harvard looked to stick it to Trinity in the third-place match, but once again fell by a 5-4 margin, as they did two weeks ago.

Despite the close losses, the Crimson (7-5) had plenty to be happy about. The team's performances against Trinity and Penn were a vast improvement over the regular season, and with only two seniors in its starting nine, title hopes for next year look bright.

"We played our hearts out," said sophomore Margaret Elias, Harvard's No. 1 player. "We came in there as the underdogs, and proved to everyone that we're a good team, no matter how inexperienced we are."

Trinity 5, Harvard 4

On Sunday, in the Howe Cup third-place match, the Crimson continued to show improvement, playing the Bantams tough in each of the nine matches.

But unfortunately for the Crimson, it improved about as much as it could without actually winning the match.

The biggest gains came from junior Virginia Brown. This time, moving her up to No. 5 spot paid off, as she posted a huge 3-1 victory (5-9, 10-9, 9-1, 9-2) to finish the Howe Cup with a 10-2 individual record.

Just as in the regular season match, Harvard got victories from its bottom three spots. Freshman Lindsay Coleman (10-1) followed up her huge win against Penn with a close 3-2 victory (2-9, 9-3, 9-3, 7-9, 9-3) while No. 8 Frances Holland (12-0) and No. 9 Katie Gregory (12-0) both won 3-0.

But needing just one other victory to take the match, the Crimson came up empty.

Harvard lost three matches that went five games. Captain Blair Endresen fell just short at the No. 6 spot, losing 3-2 (9-10, 9-3, 9-6, 7-9, 9-3).

For the second straight day, Elias watched an opponent come from behind to beat her in five games, falling 3-2 at the top spot (6-9, 9-2. 9-4, 7-9, 9-3).

The closest loss by far came from No. 4 Ella Witcher, a freshman. The only Harvard winner from the top half of the draw in its first match against Trinity, she appeared to be headed in the same direction early on against Bantam sophomore Samantha Lewins, winning the first two games, 9-4 and 9-6, respectively.

But Lewins put forth a come-from-behind effort that allowed Trinity to knock Harvard out of the third-place spot. Witcher came close to winning the third and fourth games, but lost each by the closest of margins, 9-7 and 10-9, respectively. Lewins had all the momentum going into final game, and won easily, 9-4.

"I was up the first two," Witcher said. "But she managed to stay very close."

It was the second time in as many weeks that Witcher had the misfortune of watching an opponent come back from a 2-0 deficit in the midst of a 5-4 Harvard loss. Against Princeton last week, despite a nagging illness, she nearly pulled off the fifth win that the Crimson needed. But, as with the Lewins match, she came up just short.

The loss left the Crimson with a fourth-place finish, a slight disappointment for a team that was ranked as high as No. 2 in the country a month ago. But with a starting lineup of two juniors, three sophomores, and two freshman, Harvard will have a great chance at the Howe Cup next year if it can continue to show as much improvement as in the past week.

"For sure we can win it all," Witcher said. "All the matches we had this year were super-close. Hopefully we'll pull through and win the Howe Cup next year."

Penn 5, Harvard 4

Harvard came into the Penn semifinal match Saturday as heavy underdogs. The Crimson had lost 6-3 to the Quakers a week before, and few of the six losses were even close. Penn was undefeated and favored to win its first national title ever. Penn was not about to let Harvard ruin its season.

But the Crimson managed to give the Quakers a tough match. The biggest improvement came from Coleman. Coleman went into the Penn match with an 8-1 record, ready to face the opponent that dealt her the one loss, Quaker senior Paige Kollock. Having lost 3-1 a week before, Coleman stunned Kollock, winning easily by a 3-0 margin (9-4, 9-5, 9-3).

"Our freshmen are really strong," Elias said. "There is a look of clarity, thought and concentration that they all have. It's hard for all the freshmen to step in there and win with all the pressure at this level."

As in the previous week, Penn relied on its strength at the top, while Harvard stayed close with its depth. Endresen posted a 3-1 win (9-4, 5-9, 9-1 9-3). Holland and Gregory remained undefeated on the year with Holland winning 3-0 (9-5, 9-5, 9-4) and Gregory taking a closer match, 3-2 (9-7, 9-3, 5-9, 0-9, 9-4).

Penn, meanwhile, posted sweeps at the No. 2 through 4 spots. Bajwa tried to strengthen the lineup by moving Brown, who had a 9-1 record on the year, up to the No. 5 spot, but she was unable to come through, falling 3-0 (9-2, 10-8, 9-4).

The semifinal match came done to the No. 1 spot, with Elias facing Penn senior Katie Patrick. Elias had lost to Patrick 3-0 (9-6, 9-0, 9-3) the week before, but Elias was better prepared this time.

"I knew what I had to do," Elias said. "I had to stay in there every time and play to the last point."

While Patrick took the first game 9-7, Elias, instead of letting down, turned the tables on Patrick and won 9-7 in the second. Then, in what must have been an absolute shock to the Quakers, Elias took the third game easily from Patrick, 9-3, and for a few moments, it looked as if the upset was possible.

But Patrick knew what was at stake, and she was not about to let her final chance at a national championship slip away. Patrick managed to win a close fourth game, 9-6, and then take the fifth by a 9-4 score.

The win put the Quakers in the Howe Cup finals, where Penn upended Princeton, the two-time defending champion, 5-4, to win its first ever championship while Harvard was set back to the third-place game for the first time in recent history.

Nevertheless, the Crimson had plenty of reason for optimism after the close defeat.

"We were really happy with how we played," Elias said. "We were all a lot closer. We did much better than before."

Harvard 9, Dartmouth 0

The fifth-seeded Big Green was absolutely no match for the Crimson in the Howe Cup quarterfinal on Friday. Harvard won 27 of 28 games on the day, including 3-0 wins at the top four spots by Elias, sophomore Carlin Wing, sophomore Colby Hall and Witcher.

The women's squash season is not yet finished. On Wednesday, Harvard will take on Yale, who finished fifth at the Howe Cup, to close out its team season. Then on March 3, the team will be ready for the Women's Intercollegiate Squash Association Individual Championships. Elias in particular will look to improve on her performance, a quarterfinal finish last year as a freshman.

"It's going to be a tough tournament with some tough competition," Elias. "Everyone playing out there has stepped it up. I think it's great for the game of squash."