Fraibergs Capture Intercollegiate Squash Titles

There were two names in squash at this weekend's Intercolligiate squash Association (ISA) individual tournaments--Harvard and Fraiberg.

The Crimson's brother-sister tandem, Jeremy and Jordanna Fraiberg, both won their respective championships Sunday and are now the first-ranked amateur squash players in the country.

"It was a Fraiberg weekend," said Brooke Bailey, tri-captain of the women's squash team.

At Vassar College, senior Jeremy Fraiberg beat the defending intercollegiate champion, Harvard sophomore Adrian Ezra, in the Finals.

Meanwhile, about 150 miles southeast in Princeton, N.J., Fraiberg's younger sister Jordanna also dethroned a former champ, downing long-time nemesis Berkely Belknap of Yale, by a score of 3-1.

Last year Ezra dispatched Jeremy Fraiberg in three straight games, but this time the Harvard senior survived a grueling five-game match to capture his first ISA title.

The men's final between Ezra and Fraiberg lasted almost two hours and came down to a deciding fifth game between the two Harvard racked wizards.

The men had played each other four times this season, with Ezra leading the Series 3-1, but both players said they knew that the match would be a toss up.

"Playing against Jeremy, It's just a matter of whose better on the day," Ezra said.

"I felt he had the edge going into the match but we both know each others' games so well," Fraiberg said.

Ezra took the first game of the finals, 18-14, but Fraiberg battled back in the second with a 15-6 win.

Fraiberg also win the third game, 15-12, to put him one game away from winning his first title.

Despite heavy fatigue, Ezra was not about to let the title slip away so easily, as he mounted a comeback in the fourth with a 18-15 win to tie the count.

The fifth game saw more cramping of muscles and more endless rallies, but while the last drop of sweat hit the court, Fraiberg emerged victorious. The score of the deciding game read 15-12 in the Harvard senior's favor.

Birthday Present

In Princeton, Jordanna Fraiberg was having a slightly easier time. And it wasn't just because she was playing on her birthday.

Belknap had beaten Fraiberg earlier this season in the Howe Cup tournament, but Fraiberg had won the last two times, including a huge 3-1 win two weeks ago to propel Harvard to a national championship.

After last year's 3-0 loss to Belknap in the finals of this same tournament, Fraiberg said that she prepared specifically for this matchup.

"I just decided to get relentless with my strategy and wear her down," Fraiberg said.

Fraiberg said her strategy succeeded in the early stages of the match, as she pulled out a comfortable 15-7 win in the first game.

Belknap came back to take the second game, 15-9, but Fraiberg finished the match with two 15-9 wins in the third and the fourth to capture her first individual title.

"I really was having fun out there in the finals," Fraiberg said. "Everything clicked, and everything was working perfectly."

In the men's tournament, all six Harvard players seeded in the tournament made it to the quarter finals but fell prey to themselves.

On his way to the finals, Fraiberg had to do away with senior Co-Captain George Polsky, 3-1, while Ezra said sent home senior Farokh Pandole, 3-0, and senior Co-Captain Jonny kaye, 3-2.

On the women's side, five of Harvard's seven players were in the top 17 and three made it to the semi-finals.

In the round of four, Fraiberg beat teammate Vanya Desai, who ended up with the number-three ranking in the country, while Tri-Captain Mary Greenhill (fourth-ranked) lost to Belknap.

With both Ivy League and national championships and the uncanny success this weekend, Harvard Squash Coach Steve Piltch said that this season has turned out to be remarkably fullfilling.

"I feel really privileged to have worked with these two tremendous groups of players," Pitch said. "When I started in the fall, I couldn't have created a better ending."