Women's Squash Defeats Princeton, Falls To Penn

On Sunday, the Harvard women’s squash team did something it had not done in almost a year—lose a match. This weekend, the top-ranked Crimson squad split its road contests with two top-five opponents, defeating No. 5 Princeton, 7-2, on Saturday before falling to No. 3 Penn, 5-4, on Sunday.

The loss to the Quakers was the team’s first defeat since it fell to Trinity last February, and its first Ivy League loss since losing to the Tigers in January of 2013. The two matches were the first road contests of the season for Harvard (3-1, 2-1 Ivy) and the first overall in over a month for the squad.

While the Penn match proved tough for the Crimson, Harvard coach David Way was quick to credit the Quakers.

“We knew it was going to be a tough match, and it was one of the best and most exciting matches I’ve been at,” Way said. “The Penn girls got the job done. It was very, very close.”

Senior Amanda Sobhy, junior Saumya Karki, and sophomore Dileas MacGowan picked up victories on both days for Harvard. Also picking up key wins for the Crimson was freshman Sue Ann Yong, playing in the two biggest matches of her young Harvard career. While playing from the sixth position, the Malaysia native won both of her matches in three games.

PENN 5, HARVARD 4

On Sunday, the host Quakers (7-0, 2-0) proved to be too much for the Crimson. Playing in front of a large home crowd, Penn won matches in the second through fifth positions as well as in the ninth. The Quakers had won all 54 of their individual regular season games entering Sunday. Harvard ended that streak, but it still fell to Penn for just the first time since the 2007-2008 season.

“[Penn] fought really hard, and we were expecting a tough match,” co-captain Megan Murray said. “I think it definitely gives us a little fire to push ourselves when we meet them again at nationals, hopefully. We’ll hopefully turn that result around next time.”

Three of the five Crimson losses came in five-game matches. Sobhy, the three-time defending individual national champion, led the way for Harvard, defeating Penn sophomore Anaka Alankamony in three games. Co-captains Haley Mendez and Murray and freshman Alyssa Mehta each fell to Quakers.

The Crimson went into the final two matches holding a 4-3 lead after victories by Karki, Yong, and MacGowan. However, both sophomore Katie Tutrone and junior Michelle Gemmell fell in back-and-forth five-game matches.

“Something that we’re really proud of from Saturday was that everyone made adjustments mid-match and really turned it around,” Murray said. “A lot of people did make those adjustments going into the next day, and unfortunately, we just didn’t get the result we wanted.”

HARVARD 7, PRINCETON 2

On Saturday, Harvard was led by Sobhy in its win over the Tigers (4-1, 0-1). The Sea Cliff, N.Y. native swept Princeton freshman Olivia Fiechter in the day’s top match. The Crimson also picked up victories in the fourth through ninth position matches as each Harvard player was able to defeat her opponent in either three or four games.

The Crimson’s only losses against the Tigers came in the second and third positions as Mendez fell to Princeton sophomore Maria Elena Ubina in three games while sophomore Katherine Tutrone lost at the hands of Tiger senior Nicole Bunyan in the only five-game match of the day.

Mehta and Karki picked up four-game victories for Harvard from the fourth and seventh positions, respectively. Gemmell, Yong, MacGowan, and senior Julianne Chu won their matches in three games for the Crimson.

“[Saturday] was a good first match of 2015 to get a nerve out,” Mendez said. “Our freshmen did great. It’s always tough playing Princeton at home so I think we did well to show up, stay in our bubble, act very professionally, and get the job done.”

—Staff writer Stephen J. Gleason can be reached at sgleason@college.harvard.edu.