Depth provides strength as women's squash tops Cornell

On Sunday, the women's squash team showed the depth that is expected to carry it through the year as Princeton defeated Cornell, 6-3.

The Tigers lost their first three matches but swept the bottom six in their first official outing without three-time national champion Julia Beaver '01 and four-time All-American Meredith Quick '01.

Freshman Francie Comey, senior captain Courtenay Green, freshman Frances McKay, junior Jen Shingleton, junior Helen Smith and freshman Casey Degen all swept their matches, 3-0, losing not a game on the way to victory.

Although the match was relatively "uneventful" according to senior captain Anna Minkowski, it was notable for "the concentration and determination seen on court. Regardless of a win or loss, each player came off court extremely worked and exhausted from good matches."

Most of these efforts resulted in Tiger wins. Head Coach Gail Ramsay was especially happy with the bottom of her order, praising Shingleton at No. 7 and Smith for prevailing in a match that was closer than it appeared at No. 8.

"Helen Smith won, 10-8, in the first game, but then dominated for the rest of the match. It was great to see her take control like that," Ramsay said.

The Tigers battled even in their three losses. Playing in the No. 2 spot, sophomore Annie Rein-Weston lost the first two games in her match, and after struggling back to tie it up at two apiece, she dropped the last game.

Despite the loss, Ramsay was happy with the effort.

"Annie is starting to feel comfortable in one of the top spots," Ramsay said.

Freshman Tricia Gadsden played No. 1 for Princeton, falling 3-0 to Olga Puigdemont-Sola, whom many consider most likely to replace Beaver as national champion this year.

"For her first experience as No. 1 [Gadsden] played one of the top players in the country from Spain (Puigdemont-Sola), so that's tough, but she played well and got some experience," Ramsay said.

Besides its own win, Princeton can take heart in the fact that Cornell soundly defeated Penn on Saturday, 7-2. The Quakers have traditionally been a rival of the Tigers and beat them, 6-3, last year.

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Minkowski is confident that the Big Red's win over the Quakers portends good things for Princeton.

"The day before we played [Cornell], they beat Penn, which is good to hear. We have not played Penn yet but will surely dominate," Minkowski said.

Ramsay agreed that Penn is not the same team as last year, but cautioned that they were not playing with their full lineup.

"Penn has been good," Ramsay said, "but they lost a lot of players to graduation. They definitely lost a lot in the middle section and back of their lineup. Their Nos. 1 and 2 are out right now, though, and that can change a match."

The Tigers will not meet the Quakers until Jan. 31, however, and before that they have many important matches, including their home opener against Brown on Dec. 1.

Ramsay sees her team slowly gaining the confidence that comes with experience, and expects them to evolve with every match played.

"Some of my new players and my returning players are starting to feel comfortable against their opponents and in their spots," Ramsay said. "Every match is a little test to see what they need to do better and what they're doing well, to see how we're developing."