Racquetwomen Crush Trinity, 7-2

The nation's number-one ranked Harvard women's squash team was supposed to be a little weaker this year.

It was supposed to have a harder time repeating as national champions.

There's only one problem.

They forgot to tell the Crimson.

Harvard won its 15th consecutive match, capturing a 7-2 victory against Trinity last night in Hartford, Conn.

The Crimson had a near perfect slate, with only two losses, both of which could have easily have been Crimson wins. The racquetwomen expected a tougher match from Trinity, but Harvard just cruised like a ship in the ocean...Harvard simply dominated.

The Crimson, two-time defending national champion and Ivy League titlist, will host Bowdoin tomorrow at Hemenway Gymnasium. It is Harvard's last match until Feburary.

"It's a good indicator on how strong we are at the bottom," Tri-Captain Sheila Morrissey said. "It was a good first match. Last year we beat Trinity 8-1, so we're not far from that mark."

"I think that we played very well," Morrissey added. "We weren't challenged enough to see our real potential. We really won't know that until February, when the season will really get underway."

At number one, Morrissey split the first four games against Nan Campbell. But Campbell pulled out the final game to give Trinity one of its two hard-fought wins.

Sophomore Stephanie Clark, one of the top rookies last year, continued from where she left off last season. Clark crushed Courtney Geelan in straight games.

Last week, Clark reached the consolation semifinals of the Princeton Invitational.

"It was really good," Clark said. "We have a lot of depth. We have a strong team from one-to-nine. The two losses were at the top, and those could have gone either way."

The number three player, Hope Nichols, dropped a tough four-game decision to Elizabeth Morris. In the fourth game tiebreaker, with the score tied at 15-15, Morris hit a fluke shot that struck Nichols' racket to win the game and match.

Happy B-day, Mary

Freshman Mary Greenhill, playing in her first varsity match, lost the first game to Robin Silver. But the freshman showed a lot of maturity, rallying to win the next three games. It was fitting that the freshman won on her 19th birthday.

Brooke Bailey, also a freshman, followed suit. Bailey dropped the first game to Louise Davis, but rallied to capture the next three games.

Harvard's other freshman, Carrie Cunningham, is out with an injury.

All three will play vital roles for the Crimson this year and in the future. Each one is steadily moving up the ladder.

"I think that we were all a little nervous," Greenhill said. "It wasn't until after the first game that I started to relax. I was really nervous playing my first college match. It was very exciting playing on my birthday."

"I was really proud of the freshmen," Harvard's Mary Cist said. "By February, they are going to be incredible players. Their performances showed how strong they will be in February."

Sophomore Daphne Onderdonk wasted little time in destroying Ann Nicholson in straight games.

Cist had one of the two five-game matches. After a see-saw battle with Slyvia Price for the first four games, Cist turned her game up a notch to defeat Price in the deciding game.

Louise Zonis and Martha Berkman, both of whom have converted from tennis to squash, enjoyed success in their first varsity matches for the Crimson. Zonis and Berkman both cruised to 3-0 victories over their opponents.

"The match gave us a good perpesctive on where we have to go," Cist said. "We were happy with what we did. Trinity does have a strong team."

Harvard's biggest matches will come against Princeton and Yale in February. Princeton is the favorite pick of many experts.

But the Crimson has a strong tradition of making experts look like fools.