No. 1 Trinity Deals W. Squash First Loss

The Harvard women’s squash team experienced an unfamiliar sensation last Saturday: losing.

After dropping only one game in its first four matches of the season, the No. 2 Crimson (4-1, 3-0 Ivy) fell 8-1 to nemesis No. 1 Trinity (7-0).

Intense rivals, the Bantams and Harvard have won the past two national championships. Before beating the Crimson at the Howe Cup last year, Trinity also posted a 5-4 win in their matchup at Hartford.

As expected, emotions ran high as many disagreements over stroke and let calls added to the frustration of losing close games.

Co-captain Ella Witcher, playing in the No. 8 slot, swiftly dispatched Bronwyn Cooper, 9-2, 9-4, 9-2. Last year, Witcher lost at No. 7 in the final, decisive match.

All but one of the Bantams’ top nine hail from outside of the U.S., while the Harvard program features just Witcher—a Canadian—from outside the northeast.

In the No. 2 pairing, sophomore Lindsey Wilkins took on Trinity’s intercollegiate No. 2 Lynn Leong.

A sophomore, Leong has been a thorn in the Crimson’s side since the beginning of her collegiate career. Last year, she defeated Margaret Elias ’02 in four games.

This year, Leong’s match reached a fever pitch almost immediately, as both she and Wilkins changed speeds and varied the depth of their shots.

At first, the players traded services. But after Leong accidentally hit Wilkins with a slicing shot, she was able to pull ahead. Leong went on to claim the game, 9-4.

The second game was closer than the score showed, as Wilkins made Leong fight for her 9-2 victory.

Assistant coach Mohammed Ayaz took Wilkins aside and spoke to her before the third game.

“He was pretty positive to me, [saying] ‘you’re playing well, you’re doing things well, just keep it up,’” Wilkins said.

Wilkins attacked the third game with renewed vigor, striking early with hard, accurate shots. She was not able to sustain her assault, however, and became frustrated with several calls made by Trinity No. 1 Amina Helal.

After falling 9-2, Wilkins quickly left the court as the rowdy Trinity spectators let out a cheer.

In the No. 1 matchup, junior co-captain Louisa Hall faced Helal, the No. 1 college player in the nation. Hall had lost to Helal the past two years.

This time appeared to be no different, as a sluggish Hall quickly dropped the first game, 9-0.

In the second game, she fell behind 6-0 before rallying for three straight points. Yet she ultimately went down 9-3, often swinging her racket in anger at the referee’s calls.

In the third game, Hall struck back aggressively for a 9-2 win to cut her deficit to one game.

“The game got away from Louisa in the first two,” Harvard coach Satinder Bajwa said. “But when she won the third game she showed that she can pick it up.”

Nevertheless, Hall, who had been slowed by the stomach flu since Wednesday, did not have the energy to continue her comeback and stumbled in the fourth game, losing 9-0.

“I’ve been throwing up all week, so it was a hard thing to get motivated for,” Hall said of the match.

But Hall pointed out that her illness was only one factor in her loss and acknowledged the skill of her opponent.

Sophomore Hilary Thorndike, playing in the No. 6 spot, went up two games against Clare Austin and led 7-4 in the third, only to fall in five games.

Labeling her match “a total disaster,” Thorndike said that, as she lost her composure, she became increasingly frustrated with herself, contributing to her collapse.

“Really, my mental game just wasn’t there,” Thorndike said.

At No. 3 , freshman Moira Weigel cited fatigue as one factor in her four-game loss, although she was quick to point out that it was not an excuse.

The Crimson players said this defeat would serve as fodder for future competitions.

“I think the score of this match was deceptive and that we’re a lot closer than the score seems to indicate,” Weigel said.

“I’m encouraged by how close everyone was,” Hall added. “If games can go to four or five [games], they can easily be won. This match is really just a preparation for nationals where it really counts.”

Harvard is likely to encounter Trinity again at the Howe Cup on Feb. 14-16, when the national championship will be at stake.

With a match against No. 11 Amherst tonight before Ivy League matchups against No. 6 Penn and No. 4 Princeton this weekend, the Crimson has a full plate before traveling to Yale for the Howe Cup.

“We had a tough loss today, but I think that everyone was totally mentally there, and a win over Trinity is doable,” Wilkins said.

—Staff writer Lisa J. Kennelly can be reached at kennell@fas.harvard.edu.