No. 4 W. Squash Posts Pair of Wins

Not only did the Harvard women’s squash team come out of its season opening weekend with two dominating wins, but it didn’t even have to miss The Game to do it.

The Crimson (2-0, 1-0 Ivy) kicked off its season with twin 9-0 wins over Williams and Brown yesterday and Friday, taking decisive first steps towards reclaiming the Ivy title and making a run at a national championship.

The 2003-04 season marked the first time since 2001 that Harvard failed to win the Ivy crown. Preseason polls have ranked Harvard fourth in the country, behind Yale, Trinity and Princeton, the three teams that defeated the Crimson last year.

“I think these are the matches where they should be taking the opportunity to grow, to play the part of the game that they feel not as confident about,” Harvard coach Satinder Bajwa said. “That was our goal, trying to develop those areas. That really happened well against Brown on Friday and against Williams today.”

The arrival of several experienced recruits will be instrumental in helping the Crimson overcome the dominance of the country’s top teams. The Bulldogs in particular boast the top three intercollegiate players in the nation.

But freshmen Supriya Balsekar and Jennifer Blumberg are both top-15 intercollegiate players, while sophomore transfer Kyla Grigg, the intercollegiate No. 6, will play at No. 1 for the Crimson this season. A transfer from the University of Calgary with extensive experience at the junior level, Grigg will help challenge a stacked field of Ivy and national competition.

HARVARD 9, WILLIAMS 0

The only thing different about this year’s 9-0 thrashing of the Ephs was that the Crimson got it out of the way before Thanksgiving.

Last year, Harvard didn’t play Williams until February. Thanks to a reworked schedule, however, this season’s matches are distributed more evenly between fall and winter.

In previous years, Harvard played the majority of its games in January and February, while this year, the Crimson will have matched up with four teams before winter break.

“It was nice that they’re spreading out our matches a little more. Usually we have all our matches in Febuary,” co-captain Hillary Thorndike said. “It just helps to get in the match mindset a little bit earlier.”

Thorndike provided a bit of excitement in her match at No. 6, falling behind 1-2 before rallying to win the final two games against a tough opponent who usually plays in the top four slots on the ladder.

“It was good for Hillary that she got a match like that,” Bajwa said. “That’s the kind of match she will have playing Princeton or Yale.”

HARVARD 9, BROWN 0

There are two Ivy teams standing between the Crimson and a league title this season. Brown is not one of them.

Harvard easily rolled over the Bears in its season opener Friday, dropping only one game en route to a 9-0 blowout. The Crimson had already handily defeated Brown a week earlier in the preseason Ivy scrimmage despite being slowed by injuries and illness.

“I think we’re coming out really strong,” Thorndike said, adding that both Yale and Princeton were “beatable” if the Crimson was playing at full strength.

Blumberg, the intercollegiate No. 10, playing at No. 4 in her first collegiate squash match, did not drop a single point to her opponent, Zarah Rahman, blanking her by three straight game scores of 9-0.

Junior Allison Fast, playing at No. 8, was the only player to lose a game, claiming a 3-1 win over Julie Flygare.

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