Pair of sweeps preserves perfection

After this weekend's effort on Jadwin Gym's squash courts, the No. 1 women's squash team moved one step closer to achieving its dream of repeating as national champions.

Head coach Gail Ramsay's squad defeated both the Brown Bears and the Williams Ephs, keeping the Tigers' (3-0 overall) record perfect. Both wins were perfect 9-0 sweeps — no Princeton player lost a match.

Nor has any of them lost a match this season, for that matter.

"We went into both matches with the same mindset; we were very focused and knew that we had to play our best squash against these teams. They were great competition for us to start off the season," senior co-captain Carly Grabowski said. Grabowski is also a staff writer for The Daily Princetonian.

Indeed, the Tigers were mentally and physically well prepared, and it showed in their decimation of the Brown Bears on Saturday.

In the match, the Tigers gave up only 69 points over the 27 games. Giving up less than three points per game, the Tigers handed the Brown women's team its second loss of the season.

Notably, in her collegiate debut, freshman No. 2 Jackie Moss only allowed her opponent four well-earned points in her three-game victory.

In previous action, the Bears had won two matches in their loss to the Harvard Crimson, so the Tigers' decisive victory reaffirmed their position as the team to beat in the Ivy League.

In Sunday's match against Williams, Princeton's best players showed why they are at the top of the ladder. Playing in the No. 1-4 positions respectively, sophomore Amanda Siebert, Moss, sophomore Emery Maine and sophomore Kaitlin Sennatt all provided clutch play to secure each of their victories.

Having yet to lose a collegiate squash match, Sennatt continued her streak and closed out a difficult third game, winning 10-8.

Though Maine dropped her third game after winning her first two, she rebounded nicely in the fourth game with a 9-4 win.

Siebert, meanwhile, went the distance Sunday, playing the maximum five games in her win over Toby Eyre of Williams. Though she did not win a point in her first game, she battled back to win the second game, 10-8.

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The momentum then shifted back to her opponent, as Siebert dropped the next game, 9-4. But refusing to accept defeat, Siebert rectified her mistakes and convincingly won the final two games.

"She was able to win because she adapted to Toby's style after losing the first game and fought back with attacking shots of her own. She had a great showing of spirit and effort out there on the stadium court," Grabowski said.

So far, clutch play has been Siebert's trademark, which will undoubtedly be valuable as the season progresses.

While the top of the ladder had several intense skirmishes, the No. 5 through No. 9 players sailed to relatively easy victories. As in the Brown match, junior Maggie O'Toole, senior Margaret Kent, Grabowski, junior Joanna Scoon and freshman Nikki Sequeira, who played the No. 5 to No. 9 positions respectively, only gave up a combined 23 points in their 15 games. Their gracefully efficient racquet skills were just too much for the Ephs.

"The points were shorter than other typical intercollegiate matches," Grabowski said. "[Ramsay] is tailoring drills in practice to focus on hitting to targets but also putting the ball away when the opportunity arises. We were definitely looking for shots to end the points and work on our 'kill' shots."

The Tigers will not compete again until Jan. 13, when they are scheduled to play Yale in New York City.