Hall then dispatched of Yale’s No. 1, freshman Michelle Quibell, in a 9-0, 9-5, 9-1 semifinal rout.

In the final against the 30-year-old Latasha, it seemed at first that Hall would succumb to her own demons.

“In the past, I’ve been really bad about getting intimidated if I had lost to someone before,” Hall said. “I had a lot of trouble going in there really wanting to win because I felt that I was already in a hole.”

Quickly down two games, Hall rallied with an impressive 9-1 win in the third game and then forced the match to its limit by taking the fourth, 9-5. But then she faltered and found herself losing 6-2 in the deciding frame. Hall stormed back to tie the score and fended off a match ball at 8-6 and then closed out the victory 10-8.

“This year I feel like it’s been really different, because it doesn’t really matter whether I’m better or worse [than my opponent],” Hall said. “I just love to play squash and just go out there and have fun.”

The victory is the first in a long journey to the national team, but Hall is up for the challenge. After all, she’s done it before.

Milking It

Currently hovering around No. 6 in the nation, Hall made the U.S. team three consecutive years starting her junior year in high school. She entered college as the No. 1 junior and owner of eight consecutive USSRA Junior titles. Her proudest moment was at the World Championships when she was just 16. She came back from two games down to beat her German opponent in the fifth-place match.

Hall was competing in international tournaments by the age of 15, was sponsored by Prince and Oakley in high school and starred in her very own Got Milk? ad that ran in ESPN Magazine and Sports Illustrated.

She’s also a two-time All-American, the defending Ivy League Player of the Year, the 2001 Ivy League Rookie of the Year and a former field hockey recruit.

Hall has now placed herself in prime position to reclaim a spot on the national team by winning the Harvard Club tournament, in which all four members of the 2002 U.S. Team competed.

The burden of balancing school and squash—intercollegiate and beyond— increased even more this year with her election as co-captain. But Hall is determined not to let her game slide any more, after her ranking slipped two spots since starting college and a poor showing at nationals last year.

“I can’t play as many tournaments, and it’s also been harder to train in college,” Hall said. “In high school, I had a coach, the U.S. junior coach, who was always around to help me one-on-one. Now in college, you also have to balance your needs with the needs of the team.”

Last summer Hall went home and trained like never before. She played more matches against the men in her area, which helped her improve her footwork and aggressiveness, and worked on coaching herself.

“I learned how to do things on my own a little bit more than I had in the past,” Hall said. “I gained a sort of independence that I didn’t have before. Now, even when I’m practicing with the team, I can also think about individual needs.”