Women's squash drops match to Yale, loses control of race for Ivy title

The women's squash team suffered a major setback this Saturday in its quest for the Ivy League title when it fell to Yale, 7-2, in Jadwin Gym.

The loss overshadowed a solid 6-3 win over Penn last Thursday in Philadelphia. Due to the Yale loss, however, the Ivy championship will probably be determined by the winner of the Yale-Harvard match next weekend, leaving Princeton without the ability to control its own fate.

While the score of 7-2 might indicate a dominating victory by Yale, the match was in fact much closer. Three of the matches went the distance and were decided by a fifth game, but Princeton came up on the losing end of all three.

At the end of the even set, the two teams were tied at two, as senior co-captains Anna Minkowski and Courtenay Green won their matches at the No. 4 and No. 6 spots, respectively, to keep the Tigers in the match. Minkowski beat Sarah Coleman, 3-1, and Greene breezed by Katharine Sands, 3-0. Freshman Patricia Gadsden, playing in the No. 2 spot, lost a heartbreaking 3-2 match to Yale's Devon Dalzell. Freshman Annie Warner also fell in the No. 8 position.

It was in the odd set that the Bulldogs began to pull away. Yale's Frances Ho began the contest with a 3-0 win over sophomore Annie Rein-Weston in the No. 1 position. Senior Emily Eynon and freshman Frances Comey both went down 3-1 to seal the match for Yale. The final margin of victory resulted when freshman Frances McKay and junior Jen Shingleton both lost tough matches 3-2. In the end, Yale won all five matches in the odd set.

Against Penn, the Tigers avoided the pressure of winning tough five-game matches by racking up four three-game wins en route to a 6-3 win over the Quakers.

The Tigers dropped matches at the first three spots on Thursday, but were very strong in the No. 4-9 spots. Minkowski led the way from the No. 4 position with an easy 3-0 victory. Also posting 3-0 wins were Comey, McKay and Werner. Green and Shingleton were also victorious on Thursday.

While the Tigers have an uphill climb toward the Ivy title, their season is far from over. The Tigers close with matches against Dartmouth on Saturday and Harvard on Sunday, both away. If the Tigers beat Harvard and get some help from other Ivy League teams, they could still have a shot at getting a share of the Ivy title.

The Tigers now look to put last weekend behind them and take care of business against Harvard. If they do, then Princeton will become Harvard's biggest supporter when the Crimson meet the Bulldogs.

Looking even further into the future for the Tigers, the Howe Cup, women's squash's most important tournament of the season, is only two weeks away. After facing Dartmouth and Harvard on the courts next weekend, the team will travel to New Haven, Ct. to compete in the tournament that decides the sports national champion.

While the Tigers have enjoyed considerable success at the Howe Cup in the past, it was a talented Penn team that hoisted the cup last season. The Quakers beat Princeton to claim the title.