Women's squash beats Bears, pounds Franklin & Marshall

The women's squash team (3-0 overall, 2-0 Ivy) continued its winning ways on Saturday, taking down Brown, 6-3, before steamrolling Franklin & Marshall, 8-1, to remain undefeated on the season.

Princeton took on Brown (0-2) first, in the first-official meeting between the teams this season. The Tigers and Bears had met earlier in the unofficial Ivy Scrimmages, and Princeton walked away with a hard-fought 5-4 victory.

"It was very close in Ivy Scrimmages," freshman Frannie McKay said. "We were looking forward to this match."

The Tigers improved on their Scrimmages win, picking up one additional victory in a 6-3 defeat of the Bears.

The middle of Princeton's lineup remained strong, as the No. 3-7 players all scored victories in the match.

Senior captains Anna Minkowski and Courtenay Green won at No. 3 and 5, respectively.

"Anna had a great four-game victory and Courtenay won, 9-0, in the fourth game," head coach Gail Ramsay said.

Ramsay also praised freshman Francie Comey for her convincing win at No. 4.

"I think Francie played awesome," Ramsay said. "She just dominated her opponent."

Freshman Franny McKay, junior Jen Shingleton and senior Emily Eynon all won for the Tigers, bringing the final total to six Princeton victories. The match was Eynon's first of the season, as she spent the fall competing in cross country. Her return to the No. 6 slot adds even more depth to an already solid Princeton lineup.

The only contest to go the full five games was at the No. 1 position between Princeton sophomore Annie Rein-Weston and Brown freshman Lillian Rosenthal. The two traded off wins until the score was knotted at two games apiece. The score in the third game remained close until Brown's Rosenthal took control to win five straight points and close out both the game, 9-3, and the match, 3-2.

After a brief rest, the team took on Franklin & Marshall. The Tigers' superior skills were evident throughout, as they defeated F&M (0-5) by a score of 8-1.

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None of the No. 2 through No. 9 players lost a single game on their way to victory. Green did not surrender a point in her three 9-0 wins at No. 5, and most other players could boast of at least one 9-0 game.

The only loss came at the No. 1 position. Rein-Weston came up against Anjali Ponni Rajkumar, one of the top 15 players in the country, and lost, 3-1. The match was closer than it appears, however, as Rajkumar won two of the games by a close 9-7 score and Rein-Weston herself took one, 9-0.

The Tigers do not have another match until Jan. 25-27, when the Constable/USSRA Squash Tournament will take place at Jadwin Gym. In the meantime they will be practicing, but the focus will be more on fitness and keeping a positive mental attitude during examinations than on preparing for any particular team.

"It's a high-pressure time here with exams in January," Ramsay said. "We try to stay as fit and stress-free as we can over that time. Our key is to work on that and self-motivating during the long stretch where we don't have any matches."

After the tournament, Princeton has what may possibly be two of the most important matches of the season within two days of each other. The Tigers will travel to Penn on Jan. 31 and take on Yale at home, Feb. 2.

Yale is currently 1-0 after beating Penn, 8-1, on Saturday. The Quakers are 2-2 on the year, but 0-2 in the Ivy League. They have posed problems for Princeton in the past, however, and the Tigers are not taking them lightly.

"Penn and Yale will definitely both be great matches," Ramsay said. "It's going to be an intense week."