Squash prepares for tough Ivy tests with Harvard, Dartmouth

For those of you who had barely heard of squash before coming to Princeton, this weekend is an excellent chance to get acquainted with the sport. Though typically not drawing massive crowds, squash is traditionally one of the school's better sports. If you trek out to Jadwin Gymnasium this weekend, you can see for yourself some of the school's strongest and most under-appreciated athletes.

Both squash teams take on Dartmouth at home this Saturday — men's at 12:30, women's at 2:30. The next day, both Harvard teams travel to Princeton to take on the Tigers at the same times as above.

Women's squash (5-3 overall, 2-2 Ivy League), coming off a 1-3 intersession, has a lot to prove against a solid Dartmouth team and a powerful Harvard squad. Earlier Tiger losses to Penn, Williams, and Yale mean that Princeton will have to improve its record to earn a better seed in the Howe Cup Tournament, the end-of-the-season tournament that decides the national champion.

The Big Green (10-3, 3-2) will be strong competition for Princeton. Earlier in the season, Dartmouth took an 8-1 win from Williams, a team that narrowly defeated Princeton on Sunday by a score of 5-4.

"Dartmouth will be a tough match for us," Princeton women's head coach Gail Ramsay said. "We're pretty much the underdog, but all we need is for five players to step up and play well and win."

The Harvard match looks to be even more of a challenge. The Crimson are almost on the level of Trinity, last year's national champions. Princeton hopes for a solid showing against such a strong team, but Harvard will not make it easy.

The illness of freshman and No. 1 player Ruchika Kumar will be an obstacle the team will have to overcome. While Kumar is anticipated to start the match, she is still not 100 percent after struggling with bronchitis, Ramsay said.

"She'll have two tough matches," Ramsay said. "Her fitness level isn't quite what it was before, and it's hard to get it back in that short of a time."

Another obstacle is ongoing bicker and sign-in processes at eating clubs, which affect many sophomores' practicing time. Still, the women are determined to persevere this weekend.

"We just want to go out there and compete hard," Ramsay said.

The men will not necessarily have an easy weekend, either. While Dartmouth (10-3, 2-2) should not pose a threat to Princeton's undefeated season, Harvard is one of the league's top competitors this season.

The Princeton squad, laden with seniors, first takes on a Dartmouth team that has no seniors on its roster. Though the Big Green has enjoyed a good deal of success this season against teams like Williams and Brown, they have lost to Yale and Cornell — teams the Tigers defeated earlier in the season. These factors make Princeton the heavy favorite for the match.

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Harvard, however, has the potential to do more damage to the Tigers' record. The Crimson has been one of the top three teams in the league this year, with Princeton and Yale as the other two. Because the Tigers are defending Ivy League champions and are still undefeated for the season, they are expected to do well against Harvard.

The Tigers also have one more advantage: momentum from an exciting 5-4 victory over Yale this past weekend. In that match, freshman and No. 1 player Yasser El Halaby came back from being down match point in the third game to take a 3-2 victory in Princeton's closest team match of the season. If the team can carry this momentum on throughout this weekend, they will be poised to defend their championship.

Both women's and men's squash will be put to the test this weekend. Visiting teams from Dartmouth and Harvard should mean close Ivy League competition.

If you're looking for some exciting competition this weekend, don't be afraid to look past the basketball courts. Just a few floors down in Jadwin, squash players of both genders are ready to take on some tough competition.