Trinity Derails Bid For Howe Cup Title

The Harvard women’s squash team (7-5, 4-3 Ivy) fell to Trinity (14-3), 6-3, Friday morning in the first round of the season-ending eight-team Howe Cup, but rallied with convincing 9-0 victories over Stanford (6-6) and Dartmouth (10-6) over the weekend to win the consolation bracket and take fifth place in the tournament.

The fifth-place finish capped a long season for the young team, which started only freshman and sophomores for most of the year. With only one senior on the roster, nearly the entire squad returns next year.

“I am very proud of the team and how they improved throughout the season,” Harvard coach Satinder Bajwa said. “With eight players returning and three world-class recruits, I expect we will be a championship-caliber team next year.”

HARVARD 9, DARTMOUTH 0

The Crimson turned in its most dominating performance of the season in Sunday’s fifth-place game, defeating Dartmouth, 9-0, to record its second 9-0 whitewash in as many days.

The match was no contest from its outset. Only one player, sophomore No. 3 Katherine O’Donnell, needed four sets to secure the win, while the other eight matches were all decided in straight sets, 3-0.

With the wins, freshman No. 2 Alisha Mashruwala, captain No. 6 Supriya Balsekar, and sophomore No. 9 Sandra Mumanachit went undefeated in the Howe Cup.

“The team has raised its level throughout the season and this win speaks volumes for their efforts,” Bajwa said.

HARVARD 9, STANFORD 0

Harvard worked hard to avenge Friday’s loss to Trinity, blanking Stanford, 9-0, to advance to the fifth place game.

“I did not need to say anything to pick them up [after the Trinity match],” Bajwa said. “They picked themselves up.”

Seven of the Crimson’s nine flights won in straight sets, 3-0, and four recorded at least one 9-0 set.

Freshman No. 5 Bethan Williams had the most dominating performance of the day, winning 9-1, 9-0, 9-0. Mumanachit continued her strong tournament play, defeating the Cardinal’s Karissa Hazy 9-1, 9-1, 9-0, to move to 2-0 on the weekend.

“We were playing for our captain, for our pride, and for our seeding in next week’s individual’s tournament,” O’Donnell said.

Harvard’s top two flights had to work a bit harder to maintain the shutout. After dropping her first set, 5-9, freshman Mashruwala rallied to win the next three games, 9-6, 9-2, 9-3 to win in four sets.

Freshman No. 1 June Tiong split the first two sets but won the final two in convincing fashion to secure a 9-3, 6-9, 9-3, 9-5 victory over Lily Lorentzen of Stanford.

“I felt June really came of age and played a great match,” Bajwa said.

TRINITY 6, HARVARD 3

Playing a higher-seeded opponent in the opening round for the first time, the No. 5 Crimson fell to No. 4 Trinity to suffer its first opening-round defeat in the Howe Cup in the six-year history of the program.

Mashruwala and Mumanachit had standout 3-0 victories, with Mumanachit dropping only eight points in a 9-3, 9-3, 9-1 blowout of Trinity’s Ashley Clackson.

Balsekar closed out her opponent in the fourth set to win, 10-8, 9-5, 8-10, and 9-6 to improve to 5-1 since returning from injury.

Of the Crimson’s six losses, O’Donnell played the most competitive match of the day, a five set, back-and-forth battle, but ultimately fell 9-2, 7-9, 9-7, 5-9, 9-5.

“Trinity is such a good team this year, but we were still upset,” O’Donnell said. “We knew we had to go back out there and show the other teams and keep our pride.”

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