Squash Teams on Hunt For Ivy, National Titles

Before the 1987-'88 Ivy League season, some experts predicted that Yale and Princeton would break Harvard's winning streak and end its five-year stranglehold on the Ivy and national nine-man championships.

So far, the Crimson has sent these experts looking for other jobs.

Harvard enters the final weekend of the season with an overall 10-0 (3-0 Ivy) mark.

Last week, the Crimson crushed Dartmouth, 9-0 and Penn, 8-1, upping its Ivy mark to 3-0. Harvard defeated Princeton, 6-3, a surprise to some--since Princeton was a slight favorite on paper.

In November, the Harvard football team captured a 14-10 victory over Yale, which gave the Crimson its first outright Ivy League title in 12 years.

The Game

This Saturday at New Haven, squash's version of The Game will decide the Ivy League and national team championships.

Besides its 68-game winning streak, the Crimson is also the holder of a 66-game non-Ivy winning streak, and a 36-home match, 33-road match and a 27-Ivy League match winning streaks.

Ivy Action

Yale lost a tough 6-3 decision to Princeton in New Jersey last Saturday. It was the first loss for the Elis this season.

After dropping a 9-0 decision to the Crimson, Dartmouth (1-3 Ivy, 8-5 overall) rebounded to win two of its next three matches. The Big Green lost 6-3 to Tufts, but bounced back to capture victories over Cornell, 5-4, and Columbia, 7-2.

Princeton is pulling for a Yale victory over Harvard this weekend. The Tigers need a victory by Yale over Harvard to have a chance at the national team championship.

Penn's only loss was a 8-1 decision to Harvard last weekend.

Women

The Ivy League women's race has been all Harvard for the last two years. The Crimson women's squash team is tied with Princeton for top honors in the league.

Harvard has a 3-0 Ivy record (5-0 overall), while the Tigers have posted a 4-0 league mark (6-0 overall). The two teams will clash for the Ivy and national team titles this Sunday at Hemenway Gymnasium.

For the second year in a row, the match will decide the Ivy and national team titles..

The Crimson defeated Princeton, 6-3, in the Howe Cup Championship earlier this month. Harvard captured the trophy with a 5-0 record in the tournament.

In its only match since the Howe Cup, the Crimson recorded an 8-1 decison over Dartmouth.

Last weekend, the Tigers kept their perfect record with 6-3 and 7-2 victories over Yale and Brown, respectively. Dartmouth (1-4, 6-4) dropped 8-1 decisions to both Harvard and Tufts.

Yale played only one match dropping a 6-3 decision to Princeton. Brown beat Penn (1-2, 9-7), 8-1, but lost a 7-2 match to Princeton.

The Crimson, which sports a 12-game winning streak, is almost a sure bet to win its second straight Ivy and national championships.