This past Friday and Saturday, the women’s squash team faced off against Ivy rivals, the University of Pennsylvania (7-1, 1-1 Ivy), before traveling to New Haven for a match against Stanford (7-9) in neutral territory. The Tigers fell short against the Quakers, who won the match 8-1. However, Princeton quickly responded the next day, handily defeating the Stanford squad 7-2.
The Quakers started the match in dominant fashion, with a 4-0 sweep of the first shift. However, the score line failed to reflect the intensity of the match. Senior Tara Harrington nearly sealed a point for the Princeton squad, rallying with 11-9 wins from being down 1-0 and 2-1.
In the second shift, sophomore Kira Keating put Princeton onto the scoreboard with a comeback performance. After being down two games, Keating grabbed the third game with a strong 11-4 showing. Two trying back-to-back 11-9 wins later, the Tigers soon found themselves on the board. Unfortunately, Penn would take the remaining matches for an 8-1 victory.
While the loss was disappointing, the rivalry is far from over. The two teams may meet again, with the stakes raised, in the Howe Cup semifinal if both teams win out. Princeton is confident that they can turn the result around. Indeed, this is exactly what happened last year.
Last season, Princeton lost to Penn at home 6-3. However, the Tigers flipped the result into a 7-2 victory when the two teams met again in the Howe Cup third-place match. This included a gutsy performance by senior Rachel Leizman, who grabbed a vital point for Princeton after five sets.
The Princeton squad responded quickly to their loss in Philadelphia with a 7-2 victory over Stanford, last year’s Kurtz Cup Champions. This time, the Tigers took control of the game early. In the opening shift, Princeton went up three games to one. The Tigers continued their dominance in the second shift to finish the match strong. Indeed, Princeton won 12 of 13 individual games in four wins, which included shut-outs by Leizman, sophomore Olivia Fiechter, and freshman Samantha Chai.
Still, the game had its fair share of excitement. The matchup featured two five-game thrillers. However, Princeton managed to pull through each time with Keating winning her second game of the weekend in another exciting 3-2 victory and senior Isabella Bersani clinching a 3-2 win.
This year, the Tigers will be looking to replicate the successes of last year’s squad. In the 2014-15 season, Princeton beat Penn in the Howe Cup third-place match after narrowly losing to Harvard in the semifinal. In addition, the squad also managed a third-place finish in the Ivy League Conference.
The Tigers are 1-2 in the Ancient Eight after their loss to Penn. Princeton won its first conference match against Dartmouth, sweeping their opponents 9-0. The Tigers’ first conference defeat came from the Crimson, last year’s Howe Cup winners. Currently, the squad is tied with Cornell in fifth place, but the four games still remaining will give the Orange and Black ample opportunity to climb the table.
The Tigers will continue the season this weekend with back-to-back matches against Ivy rivals Yale and Brown.Read More
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