W. Squash Cruises Over No. 8 Brown

The No. 3 Harvard women’s squash team cruised to a 9-0 victory against Brown and dropped only a single game in its season opener on Friday. The Crimson women kept their composure throughout the match, while the Bears noticeably let their passions get the best of them.

All-Americans junior co-captain Louisa Hall and sophomore Lindsey Wilkins led the way, brushing aside Brown’s best in the first two spots on the ladder.

“Lindsey and Louisa have been training really hard,” said sophomore No. 8 Hillary Thorndike. “They’re in really great shape.”

Wilkins, who is ranked fifth in the nation, dominated Brown’s No. 2 Kari Betts 9-0, 9-1, 9-1. Amazingly, the match took under fifteen minutes, including a water break.

Wilkins’ shot placement was superb and left Betts swinging at air much of the time. Betts’ frustration mounted as play progressed, and it became more apparent that she was outmatched.

Each time the two competitors bumped into one another on the court, Betts stared intently at her teammates in the crowd, searching for a solution to her woes.

As Wilkins continued to pull away, Betts could never get her head back in the game, and the Harvard sophomore coasted to an easy victory.

“Everyone is very experienced and composed on the court,” said co-captain Ella Witcher. “It’s one of our goals, one of our strengths.”

Hall, who is No. 3 in the country, squared off against Brown No. 1 and All-American honorable mention Lillian Rosenthal.

Neither side was able to control the match early, with each player repeatedly breaking the serve of the other and preventing points from being scored.

Once Hall took control, however, she swiftly moved in for the kill, taking the first two sets 9-1.

Towards the end of the second set, Rosenthal began to lose her cool as well, repeatedly throwing up her arms in disgust and talking to herself.

It appeared to be more of the same in the third set, as Hall laid claim to an initial 7-0 lead. She started to falter, however, and proceded to lose four consecutive points.

Threatened by the possibility of playing an additional game, Hall clamped down to win the final two points.

The only time the Crimson showed any vulnerability came during the No. 5 match between freshman Tina Browne and Brown’s Phoebe Anderson.

After taking the first two games 9-5, Browne dropped the third game 9-6. Anderson took the momentum and ran with it, winning the first four points of the fourth game.

Browne then roared back to win nine straight points in response, closing out the match 9-4.

“Tina’s a very strong player,” Witcher said. “She never gives up.”

Harvard dominated up and down the lineup, with particularly strong performances at the bottom of the ladder. The seventh, eighth and ninth spots gave up only eight points combined.

“We have a pretty deep team,” Thorndike said. “From number three down, we’re all pretty competitive with each other. We overpower teams at the bottom.”

The Crimson is off until Dec. 7, when the squad travels to Ithaca to face No. 9 Cornell.