Youthful w. squash asserts itself with No. 2 showing

Women's squash began its season last weekend with a preview of some of its regular-season competitors at the Ivy Scrimmages, hosted by No. 1 Yale in New Haven, Conn.

Ranked No. 2 heading into the weekend, Princeton battled through several injuries to hold on to a runner-up finish to the Elis.

"We were optimistic going into the weekend," sophomore No. 3 Marilla Hiltz said. "We have such a talented freshman class. We have four freshmen in the top nine. We consider ourselves stronger than last year, and we did well last year."

Starting out the two-day tournament, the Tigers swept Cornell, 9-0, on Saturday to go on to play Harvard later in the afternoon.

Things looked shaky for Princeton starting out against the Crimson. After winning her first match and leading in her second, freshman No. 4 Casey Reiley took a fall that hurt her knee and sidelined her for the rest of the tournament, forcing the Tigers to forfeit the match.

Despite that loss, Princeton was able to pull through and overturn the Crimson, 5-4.

"It was a good win for us," Hiltz said. "Harvard's Nos. 1, 3 and 4 were all new, so were a little nervous."

The weekend's injuries weren't over, however. Already missing the team's No. 2 player, sophomore Ali Pearson, due to a stress fracture, the Tigers additionally had to deal with Hiltz's stitches in her hand and freshman No. 6 Christina Fast's shoulder problem.

The result was that only seven players — instead of the usual 10, nine of whose scores count — were able to play on Sunday in the final match against Yale. The Tigers fell, 6-1.

"Everyone was playing three spots up," Hiltz said. "Against Yale, it was disappointing not to play our entire lineup, but we're looking forward to playing them when we have our full lineup. Hopefully, everyone will be healthy and will be ready to go."

Princeton will have to heal fast because the Tigers will be hosting four teams this coming weekend at Jadwin Gymnasium. Princeton will face Franklin & Marshall, Haverford and University of Virginia on Saturday and meet up with Cornell again on Sunday.

Playing for the Tigers last weekend, in order, were sophomore Claire Rein-Weston, sophomore Genevieve Lessard, Hiltz, Reiley, freshman Lena Neuseld, Fast, freshman Margaret Kent, sophomore Anina Nolan, and senior co-captains Tricia Gadsden and Franny McKay.