Princeton crushes Big Red to open its season

The women's squash team took little time to establish itself as an Ivy League contender in its season-opening match. Princeton had about the strongest start to the season it could ask for, crushing Cornell, 9-0, on Sunday.

"I thought they performed very well," head coach Gail Ramsay said. "Nobody dropped a game, and that showed good focus and good execution. Those were big positives."

The Tigers (1-0 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) simply outmatched the opposition in their 9-0 sweep of the Big Red (1-2, 0-2). Princeton's current squad could be even better than last year's team. Though the team returns all nine starters from last season, three of them have been replaced by incoming freshmen, including the team's No. 1 player, freshman Neha Kumar.

The Tigers got an impressive debut from all three of these freshmen. Kumar earned a 9-5, 9-4, 9-0 win over Maxi Prinsen. No. 3 Amanda Seibert defeated Alex Cornett 9-5, 9-1, 9-2, and No. 8 Kaitlin Sennatt swept Jamie Singer, 9-0, in three straight games.

"I thought the freshmen played very well, considering it was the opener," Ramsay said. "The parents and the fans were all out to watch the matches, but they kept their focus well and played some good squash. It's good to see them adapting to college competition."

Many on the squad had to overcome season-opening jitters in the first game, as five Tigers surrendered more points in the first game than in the rest of the set.

"In the opening match, I think several on the team were probably a little nervous," Ramsay said. "But they all kept their emotions under control. The performance was very good for this point in the season."

The team's former No. 1, senior Claire Rein-Weston, also overcame a challenging first game before coasting to a 9-5, 9-2, 9-0 win over Rachel Wagner. Rein-Weston played at the No. 2 spot.

Princeton also got 3-0 wins from senior Marilla Hiltz at No. 4, junior Casey Riley at No. 5, junior Lena Neufeld at No. 7 and junior Margaret Kent at No. 9.

Junior Carly Grabowski also gave a solid effort, topping Liz Stoke 9-1, 9-1, 9-6 at the No. 6 spot, continuing her unbeaten streak in regular-season matches. Grabowski also has the distinction of being one of two players to win a game in the team's final Ivy match versus Harvard last year, which the Tigers lost, 7-2. The team must wait until February before it gets an opportunity to avenge that loss.

"This match was just an opener, and we have to get into the end of January before we have some of our toughest matches," Ramsay said. "I think the win [over Cornell] was a good starting point, but it was expected. The win doesn't really define us yet. We should have won decisively, and that's a good sign."

Before the team reaches the thick of its schedule in a couple months, Ramsay hopes to see continued improvement.

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"We hope to get better and improve every day," Ramsay said. "I want the team to be even better in January and February. I want to see them 10 percent fitter and 10 percent more competitive and sharper."

Princeton will host a Constable/USSRA Squash Tournament at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 25.