Racquetwomen Repelled in Howe Quest

Seven Division I squash teams gathered at Yale to take part in the Howe Cup tournament this past weekend. Harvard's raquetwomen tied Yale and Trinity for first, but the Cup went to the Bulldogs in the tie-breaker.

The Crimson opened the three day round robin tournament with two matches Friday. The raquetwomen breezed to an easy victory over Brown (6-1) and Williams (7-0).

Saturday followed the same pattern. Harvard demolished Dartmouth (7-0) and Princeton (6-1) in a repeat performance. Only a one-point loss in the fifth match by Harvard's number one player, Diana Edge, marred a perfect Crimson performance.

Play started early on Sunday for the racquetwomen, who took the court against Trinity at 9 a.m. The early hour obviously didn't bother Harvard, as it grabbed a 6-1 victory.

However, tiredness did affect the Crimson's performance later in the morning. A match against Yale--the homecourt and home-crowd favorite--was scheduled for just one hour after the squad finished off Trinity, putting the raquetwomen at a definite disadvantage.

The Bulldogs snatched a 6-1 victory from the fatigued Crimson, with only Edge recording a victory. Teammate Marty Winnick--Harvard's number three player--lost a close one, as her Yale counterpart battled her way to a two-point victory in a tie-breaker in the fifth match.

The loss proved to be a tough one for the Crimson in the tie-breaker. A win would have given the squad a share of the cup.

Yale and Trinity wrapped up tournament play Sunday afternoon, with a fight to the finish. Trinity's 4-3 victory landed Trinity, Yale and Harvard in a three-way tie for first. In the case of a tie, the team with the most individual wins is awarded the cup, and Yale squeaked by Harvard by a mere two-match margin.

"We beat Trinity, then lost to Yale one hour later," Co-Captain Winnick said. "One hour after that Yale lost to Trinity."

Winnick's matches exemplify the results of the hectic scheduling. She beat Trinity's Erica Lacerda, 3-0, and then lost to Yale's Whitney Stewart, who in turn lost to Lacerda.

"I'm not trying to take anything away from Yale," Winnick said, "They played well. However, we are looking forward to the dual match, our next opportunity to play Yale, as a true test."