Men's squash dominates while w. squash continues to build

For one squash team, it was a season to build upon. For the other, it was a season to remember.

Despite its youth, women's squash earned an overall winning record this season. The Tigers (6-5 overall, 3-3 Ivy League) had only three upperclassmen among their top 10 players, including junior Annie Rein-Weston, who left midseason for a study abroad program. They knew they would face older and more experienced competition, but the team didn't seem fazed.

After an undefeated start, powerhouse Trinity handed the Tigers their first loss. Following that defeat, the Tigers lost a close match to Penn, 6-3, and then were dominated by Yale, 9-0.

A day before its final regular season match, an 8-1 loss to Harvard, women's squash played for the highlight of its season — a match against Dartmouth decided by just two points.

Pressure on Comey

It all came to rest on the shoulders of sophomore No. 5 Frances Comey. Four of her teammates had lost, and four had won. With a win she could propel the Tigers to victory.

Comey stood strong under pressure and pushed for a 9-7 edge over her opponent in the fifth game. With that two-point difference, the Tigers remained above .500 overall and 3-3 in the Ivy League.

In the Howe Cup, the women's national championship, Princeton was eliminated in the first round after a 9-0 loss to Yale. After the initial loss, the Tigers avenged their earlier loss to Williams with a 5-4 win, but then the Big Green got their own revenge when they defeated the Tigers, 5-4.

No. 1 Ruchika Kumar earned All-Ivy Team and First Team All-American honors in her first season in orange and black.

The men's squash team, on the other hand, was on the whole older than the women's team. Before this season, four seniors in the top nine — No. 2 Will Evans, No. 3 David Yik, No. 4 Dan Rutherford and No. 5 Eric Pearson — had contributed to Princeton's earning the Ivy title in two of their three years. And though young, freshman No. 1 Yasser El Halaby lived up to high expectations and contributed to the team more than anyone could have guessed.

The men (8-1, 6-0) started out the season with four goals — to take the Ivy League scrimmage in the fall, to win the Five-Man Team Championship, to clinch the Ivy title again and to battle it out with Trinity for the national championship.

Nothing could stop the Tigers from taking the first three goals. Princeton dominated the scrimmage, and its top five players took the Five-Man Championship back from Trinity. An undefeated Ivy League record gave the Tigers sole possession of the Ivy League title, though not before a hard-earned 7-2 win over Harvard and a nail-biting match against Yale.

Princeton's only regular-season loss came at the hands of indomitable Trinity. A chance to beat this team in the national finals would be icing on the cake.

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In the end, nothing could keep Trinity from repeating as champions. But the Tigers couldn't have asked for — or, rather, earned — a better team season.

The individual championships brought home another honor to Princeton. By downing teammate No. 2 Will Evans, El Halaby earned the individual national title in his first year of college squash.

A black and orange theme permeated the awards at the end of the season. Three Tigers — El Halaby, Evans, and David Yik — made up a third of the All-Ivy Team and each earned First Team All-American honors as well. El Halaby accepted both Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year awards.