Fresh Faces Take Home 3 Victories

While the faces might have been new, the results were not. The Harvard women’s squash team (3-0, 1-0 Ivy) swept its season-opening matches against Brown, Stanford, and Williams to bring its lifetime record against the teams to a collective 14-0.

Despite graduating 2007 national champion Kyla Grigg ’07 and starting only freshmen and sophomores—including two walk-ons—on the nine-woman squad, the team showed confidence and poise on the way to victory.

The Crimson began the season beset with injuries, with 2007 All-Ivy senior Supriya Balsekar out with a hip injury for at least two weeks, sophomore Charlene Neo out against Brown with a shin splint, and freshman June Tiong leaving the match against Williams with an ankle injury.

With Balsekar out, Tiong played at the No. 1 spot in her first-ever match as a collegiate athlete. She is one of four recruits—along with fellow freshmen Alisha Mashruwala, Bethan Williams, and Alexandra Zindman—who have international playing experience and will likely form the foundation of the Harvard lineup into the future.

Youth and injury hardly showed, however, as Harvard put up strong numbers and breezed through the weekend.

“Last year, we were more experienced and knew we could usually get guaranteed wins from Kyla and Supriya,” sophomore Katherine O’Donnell said. “This year, things are a bit more nerve-wracking, but everybody has pulled through.”

The real tests don’t begin until 2008, when Harvard plays Ivy League powerhouses Penn and Princeton. However, judging from this opening weekend’s strong performance, the Quakers and Tigers will certainly have their hands full.

“Everyone has proved themselves,” O’Donnell said. “Penn and Princeton have so many upperclassmen returning and might not be expecting much. They will be surprised.”

The Crimson next travels to Hanover on Nov. 28 for a match against Dartmouth.

HARVARD 7, WILLIAMS 2

Despite having to forfeit the top spot on account of injury, the Crimson stepped up to deliver a dominating performance with a 7-2 victory over Williams to complete the weekend sweep on the road.

Harvard was paced by sweeps at its No. 3 through No. 8 positions.

Freshman June Tiong, playing at the No. 1 position, retired with an ankle injury midway through her match. According to coach Satinder Bajwa, she should be back after a week’s rest.

“We are playing well and stepped up despite June’s injury,” Bajwa said. “The team really responded to adjustments and came together as a unit.”

HARVARD 8, STANFORD 1

The Crimson delivered a second dominating performance, dropping only the No. 9 position in an 8-1 rout of the Cardinal.

The highlight of the match was freshman June Tiong’s 3-1 defeat of the Cardinal’s Lily Lorentzen, who won the individual national championship in her freshman year at Harvard before transferring to Stanford. After losing the opening set, 9-1, Tiong quickly took control, winning the next three games, 9-1, 9-0, 9-0, to claim the victory.

Neo returned to the squad at the No. 8 position after sitting out against Brown and opened her 2007 campaign with a hard-fought five-set victory, 9-7, 6-9, 3-9, 9-5, 9-2.

HARVARD 7, BROWN 2

The Crimson, led by Tiong and Mashruwala at the top two positions, defeated Brown, 7-2, to open the season with a convincing victory.

The Crimson’s six freshmen got off to a strong start, going a collective 4-2, with Tiong, Mashruwala, Williams, and Zindman dropping only one set between them.

O’Donnell and fellow sophomore Johanna Snyder began their second season with convincing victories at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.

—Staff writer Barrett P. Kenny can be reached at bpkenny@fas.harvard.edu.