M., w. squash ripe with championship fever

Men's and women's squash both came out of the regular season with strong records, but now it's championship time. The men's team ended with a record of 14-3 overall and 4-2 in the Ivy League. The women finished with a record of 8-3 overall and 4-2 in the Ivy League.

"This group has worked hard and most of them have seen a huge jump in their games over the past two or three seasons," women's head coach Gail Ramsay said. "They have really earned a chance to play their best this weekend."

Both these teams have a lot to look forward to in individual and team competition. The women head to Yale this weekend to compete in the Howe Cup, women's squash's national championship.

Ramsay is feeling good about the upcoming weekend but is realistic about the challenges the team has to face.

"We are all very excited about the coming Howe Cup weekend," Ramsay said. "The team knows we have some tough matches ahead of us, and we need to be ready and determined."

The Howe Cup was first sponsored by Mrs. Virginia Griggs in honor of Margaret Howe and her twin daughters Peggy and Betty, who were known as "the leading family in women's squash." The collegiate division started in 1973 with a Princeton win at Yale.

The women enter the tournament seeded No. 3 behind No. 1 Yale and No. 2 Trinity. The Tigers' only losses were an 8-1 loss to Yale on Jan. 31 and a 7-2 loss to Trinity last weekend. The regular season may not mean much, though, and the pressure of postseason play could give trouble to the young Princeton squad.

"Our five freshmen will be experiencing their first Howe Cup," Ramsay said. "I think they will feel right at home in this end-of-season event. They have done a great job. I am anticipating some real challenges and am confident this team can rise to the occasion and produce some best-ever performances."

Princeton has to bring its 'A' game to come out with a win, and it has been awhile since the Tigers have left the championships with a trophy. They won in 1998 and 1999, but since then they have left empty handed. The championship was claimed by Penn in 2000 and Harvard in 2001. Trinity has walked away with the title the last two years.

Princeton faces the Dartmouth women in its first-round match Saturday. The Tigers beat the Big Green, 8-1, earlier in the season, but Ramsay refuses to let her team rest on its laurels.

"We played well against Dartmouth earlier this month, but I want to make sure we do not take them lightly," Ramsay said. "They are a deceptively strong team and our 8-1 victory was well earned."

Depending on how the other matches turn out, Princeton could face Trinity on Saturday, as well, so they will be looking to save some of their strength.

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"We will be taking one match at a time but of course keeping a broad focus," Ramsay said. "We are preparing for our Dartmouth match knowing we will need to be ready on Saturday to play again, hopefully against Trinity.

"We played a pretty good match against them last Saturday, but it was not our best overall performance. We will need to have our best games there on Saturday to have a realistic chance against a strong Trinity team."

Assuming all goes according to plan Saturday, the Tigers will be in the finals Sunday.

"No matter what happens Saturday," Ramsay said, "Sunday will be our toughest challenge."

The competition for the men's national title is not until Feb. 27-29. Yale is hosting the event, and Princeton enters seeded No. 4 behind No. 1 Trinity, No. 2 Yale and No. 3 Harvard. For the time being the team will be training for the event and having intrasquad matches to finalize their lineup.