Men's squash records first Ivy win

Men's squash (2-1 overall, 1-1 Ivy League) earned its first league win with a 7-2 decision over Brown (0-1, 0-1) on Saturday. Women's squash (5-0, 2-0) continued its domination to extend its run to five straight wins with an 8-1 victory over the Bears (0-1, 0-1).

Sophomore Vincent Yu returned to the lineup on Saturday after missing Princeton's first two matches because of health problems. Yu played at No. 3 and lost, 9-5, 9-3 and 9-4, to Brown's Ed Cerullo.

"We're on the way back," head coach Bob Callahan said. "We've had a series of surprises, but everything's getting better."

Freshman Robert Hong again played in the No. 1 spot for the Tigers. Hong served as No. 1 against Franklin & Marshall last Wednesday and beat his opponent in three games to help boost Princeton to an 8-1 win in that match.

In Saturday's match, Hong defeated Dan Petrie in three games, 9-6, 9-6 and 9-4.

The Tigers swept every match but two. Yu lost at the No. 3 spot, and senior Greg Callahan fell in four games in the No. 9 position. Callahan kept the first two games close, falling, 9-7 and 9-6, before rallying back to win the third, 9-7. In the fourth game, however, Callahan was only able to score one point.

Four of the nine matches went into four games. Sophomore Tim Callahan, sophomore Preston Comey and senior Rob Siverd played at the Nos. 5, 6 and 7 positions, respectively, and all took their individual match to four games.

Callahan took the first game, 9-6, lost the second, 9-4, and then closed out his opponent in the next two games, 9-2 and 9-3.

Comey had it easier, sweeping the first two games without letting his opponent score more than two points. In the third game, however, Comey lost a heated 10-8 decision. Comey collected himself in the fourth and final game, wearing out his opponent and winning, 9-0.

"We've turned a corner," Callahan said. "We're going to practice, rest and recover over Christmas. Emotionally, everything now seems to be on the upswing."

Two weeks ago, the Tigers dropped their league-opener to Cornell, 6-3, despite defeating the Big Red by the same score in the Ivy Scrimmages two weeks before that. The win over Brown puts Princeton back into the Ivy hunt, despite the setback of having several of its top players not return this season.

Still undefeated

Women's squash beat the Bears, 8-1, to remain undefeated and atop the Ivy League.

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The only match lost by the Tigers was in the No. 1 spot. Sophomore Claire Rein-Weston lost to Lillian Rosenthal in five games. Rein-Weston beat Rosenthal in the first two games, 9-7 and 9-5, and was as far ahead as 8-3 in the third. Despite numerous opportunities for Rein-Weston to win the game-point, Rosenthal fought back to win, 10-8. Rosenthal held on to win the fourth and fifth games, 9-4 and 10-8.

Princeton dominated everywhere else, though. None of the other Tigers dropped even a single game. Head coach Gail Ramsay was particularly impressed by sweeps by her No. 2 and No. 3 players, sophomores Marilla Hiltz and Genevieve Lessard.

The fourth through sixth positions in the lineup were manned by a trio of freshmen — Lena Neufeld, Christina Fast and Margaret Kent — who continue to impress early in their Tiger careers. A fourth freshman, Carly Grabowski, also turned in a strong performance in the No. 8 slot.