Women’s squash stays unbeaten with sweeps over Amherst, Williams

The No. 3 Princeton women’s squash team (5–0) swept No. 16 Amherst and No. 13 Williams on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

The Princeton women did not drop a game against Williams. Senior Camille Price only lost eight points at the No. 9 position en route to her 3–0 victory in her season debut.

Against Amherst, Princeton only gave up two games. Sophomore Grace Doyle played well at the No. 1 position, only dropping 13 points, and fellow sophomore Emme Leonard won 9–3, 9–6, 9–3 at the No. 2 spot.

The Tigers opened their season with five straight victories including sweeps against Virginia and George Washington and a 7–2 defeat of then-No. 4 Stanford.

“We were gearing the fall for Stanford. It was the second weekend of competition, our second match, so we were a little bit anxious and nervous, but overall we prepared well,” said head coach Gail Ramsay. “[The freshmen] stepped up and got their games going against some pretty tough opponents.”

The Princeton women welcomed freshmen Bubble Lui, Elle Ruggiero, Andrea Toth, and Emily Rose to the team this year. Coming in at the top of Hong Kong junior rankings at the U19 level, Lui currently holds the No. 1 position on the team, taking over for graduated All-American Olivia Fiechter.

Ruggiero, the second-ranked U.S. U19 women’s player, and Toth, the top Canadian U19 women’s player, also cracked the starting roster, at No. 4 and 8 respectively. Rose, the sixth-ranked U.S. U19 women’s player, sits just outside at No. 10.

Ramsay touts the depth of the team as a strength.

“Toth at No. 8 is No. 1 from Canada. The No. 1 from any country has a certain level of clout,” said Ramsay. “We are strong at the top, but ultimately I think numbers five, six, seven, eight, nine will be a real important part of the lineup. If we are going to make some big wins and upset a couple people, I think those five will need to produce some W’s on a consistent basis.”

After winter break, the Tigers will travel to No. 2 Trinity before playing seven straight Ivy League matches. Ramsay pointed out No. 4 Penn and No. 1 Harvard as particularly challenging matches.

Last year, Princeton went 15–2 overall, 6–1 Ivy League, only losing in the Ivy League to league champion Harvard.

“Harvard has been somewhat dominant in the league right now,” said Ramsay. “So, we have to work on playing our best squash ever on that date which is a reasonable goal.”