Women's Squash Falls in National Finals

One out of two isn’t half bad.

The Harvard women’s squash team scored an upset win over the Quakers in the semifinals of the Howe Cup Saturday afternoon to avenge a loss two weeks prior, yet couldn’t pull the same trick again on Sunday, falling to Princeton for the second time this month in the national championship.

The Crimson, seeded third, blew out Dartmouth 8-1 in the first round of the tournament before facing the second-seeded Penn in the semifinals. One week ago, an undefeated Harvard team headed to Philadelphia ranked No. 3 in the country, only to suffer its first loss on the season, a 6-3 setback at the hands of the Quakers. This week, the team had revenge on its mind.

“We were obviously really motivated,” senior Kyla Grigg said. “We had great energy that was definitely because of last weekend. We were determined to get back at them.”

The team went out and delivered, with a convincing 6-3 victory to move into the finals. The Crimson’s top five all scored wins.

Two-time national finalist Grigg remained undefeated on the season at the top spot with a 3-0 win, followed by junior Jen Blumberg at No. 2 and junior Supriya Balsekar at No. 3. Audrey Duboc, Lydia Williams, and Johanna Snyder also recorded victories at the No. 4, 5, and 7 spots, respectively.

“This week we knew exactly what we needed to do to win,” Grigg said of the victory. “We didn’t know much about them a few weeks ago, just that they were good. This week we were really focused and knew what needed to be done. We were much more mentally prepared.”

However, the magic didn’t work two days in a row. After losing to the Tigers 7-2 in their regular-season finale, Harvard had a chance to set things to right in the finals. But the team quickly fell behind 2-0 following losses at No. 6 and No. 9.

The Crimson’s Supriya Balsekar got Harvard on the board with a convincing 9-3, 9-6, 9-7 victory at the No. 3 spot.

However, that was all of the offense the Crimson would be able to muster until the match was out of reach. Jennifer Blumberg fell at No. 2, and No. 5 Lydia Williams lost a heartbreaker 9-5 7-9 9-5 9-1. Princeton’s No. 8 Carly Grabowski sealed the championship for the Tigers with a 9-6, 9-3, 9-2 win over Harvard freshman Charlene Neo, to build an insurmountable 5-1 lead.

“We were up against a team strong at every position,” head coach Satinder Bajwa said. “There were three or four matches we could see ourselves winning. In the others we knew the opposition was stronger.”

With the championship already out of reach, the Crimson’s No. 7 Johanna Snyder lost a marathon five-set match 9-6, 4-9, 9-6, 7-9, 9-6 to Princeton’s Marilla Hiltz. Harvard’s No.1 Kyla Grigg and No. 4 Audrey Duboc then pulled out victories to make the final score 6-3.

“In our top four we got Nos. 1, 3 and 4. And No. 7 almost won where we had anticipated a 50-50 match there,” Bajwa said. “We won 3 and needed 5.”

With her victory, Grigg improved to 11-0 in her final year with the Crimson.

“I’m so happy we went to the finals in my last Howe Cup. I’m glad we didn’t lose to a team we didn’t deserve to lose to,” Grigg said. “There is nothing sad about that.”

This marks the second consecutive year that Harvard has come just short of winning its 12th national title. Last season, the Crimson was knocked off in the semifinals by Yale before coming back to defeat Princeton in the third-place game. The team has not won the title since 2001.

Despite the loss, Bajwa remained proud of his team.

“The competition was so strong. The whole team knows how well they did,” he said. “We were ranked five [heading into the season] and now we’re No. 2. The whole team feels we had a really rewarding season. Our work almost paid off.”

Harvard will play a makeup game against Yale tomorrow at the Murr Center that had been postponed by snow. The team will conclude its season the first week of March with the ISA singles championships in Philadelphia.