W. Squash to Play for Nat'l Title

If there is a squash juggernaut, it is painted Crimson.

The Harvard women's squash team finished up the Howe Cup Tournament last weekend in striking fashion, sweeping the tournament and setting up a national championship duel against Yale today.

"[We played] really well," junior Libby Eynon said. "We came together as a team."

Harvard blanked Trinity, Brown, and Dartmouth, nine matches to none. Harvard also defeated Princeton, 8-1, and edged past Yale, 5-4.

In the entire round robin, the Crimson's top four players--Jordanna Fraiberg, Eynon, Erin Dockery, and Blair Clark--all finished undefeated.

"Going into Sunday's match against Princeton [both teams were] undefeated," Fraiberg said. "So it was essentially like a final match."

The Crimson, which is playing squash like it invented the sport, was definitely up for the match against one of the best teams in the country.

"We were very psyched for the match," Fraiberg said. "It was the best performance of the year.

"Everyone was really match tough--people were not going to give up, they were diving for balls and playing very smart squash."

"On Sunday [against Princeton] we were playing like we did last year," Eynon said.

In the 1992-1993 season, Harvard won the National Championship.

Today against Yale, it will be the goal of the Crimson again to be at the top of the squash world. Princeton and Yale are currently in second place in the standings with one loss each, while the Crimson is undefeated. Yale lost to Princeton earlier this season and Harvard beat Princeton.

Thus, if Harvard beats Yale today if finishes the season as the national champion, and if it loses, there will be a three-way tie for first.

"I think that we're a stronger team, but you never know," Fraiberg said. "We feel confident in terms of intensity and focus."

The main question for the Crimson will be the play of the bottom five seeds. The top four Harvard players will almost assuredly win, as they did in this weekend's match against the Elis.

But only one of the bottom five seeds won, and that victory by seventh-seed Galt Niederhoffer was an extremely close, five-game affair.

"I think the top four will win," Eynon said. "But the bottom five I worry about."