Trinity hands w. squash first defeat

Going into a match with the defending national champions is intimidating under any circumstances.

This past Saturday proved no exception for the Tiger women's squash team.

Princeton (4-1 overall, 2-0 Ivy League) started off 2003 with a loss to Trinity. Though each Tiger fought hard, as a whole the team could not overcome a deep Bantam squad.

The Princeton players went into the match knowing they would have to play their best squash against Trinity, which has built up a team of top international competitors. Bantam recruiting paid off last year when the team clinched the national title with a victory in the final tournament.

Princeton head coach Gail Ramsay called Saturday's match "a solid effort on everyone's part."

"Sometimes they just overpowered us, but it was a good showing against a good team."

The Tigers took only three games total from the Bantams, who swept Princeton's toughest match of the season, 9-0.

At the No. 2 spot, sophomore Patricia Gadsden fell to her opponent, Lynn Leong, 3-0. Gadsden's teammate, No. 3 junior Annie Rein-Weston, met a similar fate, dropping all three games to Larissa Stephenson.

It was the same story for No. 4 sophomore Frances McKay and No. 5 sophomore Anne Warner — two more 3-0 losses for the Tigers.

No. 6, sophomore Frances Comey, fared slightly better against her opponent, Clare Austin. Comey took a game from Austin before Austin could fight back and take the match, 3-1.

The Shingleton sisters — freshman Rebecca (No. 7) and senior co-captain Jen (No. 8) — played hard against their respective competitors, Rhea Bandare and Bronwyn Cooper, but lost 3-0 as well.

No. 1 freshman Ruchika Kumar put up a good fight against her opponent, Amina Helal. After dropping the first two games, Kumar did not give up. She battled back to take the third game. But Helal stepped onto the court in the fourth game with a new focus. She overpowered Kumar to take that individual match, 3-1, and clinch the Bantams' 9-0 sweep of the Tigers.

'No shame'

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Ramsay is not ashamed of Princeton's first loss of this season, however.

"It's no shame to lose to a team of this quality. They won nationals last year, and they'll probably do the same this year. We just need to take something from [the loss] and look forward to our next meeting."

The team also showed excellent sportsmanship after their defeat. During a reception after play had ended in Jadwin, each Tiger gave her opponent a pin to commemorate the match.

The Tigers' next focus is Ivy League play — the team faces Penn Jan. 29 at Jadwin. Though Harvard and Yale are probably the teams to beat this year, the Penn match will be no easy victory either. Three days later, the Tigers take on Yale in New Haven, Conn. Princeton will have to work hard to prepare for both matches.

"It's hard to be sharp during exam period. We just have to get in as much court time as we can," said Ramsay.

The Tigers will look to learn from this Trinity match and apply what they have learned during the rest of the season. Ivy League competition will be tough this year, but Princeton is up to the challenge.