No. 3 Women's Squash Sweeps Brown and Yale

No. 3 Harvard women’s squash (10-1, 6-1 Ivy) finished off the regular season with a winning streak, topping No. 5 Yale (10-4, 4-3) on Friday at the Murr Center and No. 11 Brown (5-8, 0-7) on Sunday at the Kate Brodsky Squash Pavilion.

Coming off of a win against No. 1 Trinity, the Crimson was looking to finish off its regular season with a pair of wins and enter the tournament season on the right footing.

“After our big win against Trinity on Wednesday, we were feeling great,” co-captain Megan Murray said. “We weren’t expecting to beat them as decisively, so we went into Friday definitely with the mindset of having the same sight as Wednesday and trying to come up with just as a decisive a win.”

HARVARD 9, BROWN 0

Harvard extended the Bears’ losing streak with another win on Sunday in the final match of the regular season.

“The team really came together,” freshman Alyssa Mehta said. “I think we’ve all really improved fitness wise and mentally.”

Five members of the Crimson squad finished the season with a perfect record: senior Amanda Sobhy, juniors Isabelle Dowling and Saumya Karki, sophomore Dileas MacGowan, and freshman Sue Ann Yong.

Dowling had the longest game of the five and of the day, playing five matches against Alexandra White out of the No. 9 spot. Dowling took the win in the first and third matches, but White fought back relentlessly, always tying up the game to force it to five matches. In a match that came down to the final few points, Dowling pulled out the win.

Murray finished her last regular season in her fourth appearance for the Crimson at the No. 8 spot. Murray defeated Isabel Pitaro in three straight matches, winning each one by at least eight points.

Yong, at the No. 4 spot, also won 3-0, but her matches against Mina Shakarshy were closer. With 10 match victories under her belt, the Harvard freshman has the most wins on the team.

This was the Crimson’s seventh 9-0 sweep of the season, the same number as the 2013-2014 season.

“It was the last road trip for the seniors, so that was also a nice little end to the season,” Murray said.

HARVARD 9, YALE 0

“We definitely wanted to prepare the same way that we prepared for our match on Wednesday and all our other matches this season,” Mehta said. “So we were expecting it to be tough and we were expecting that everyone would have to play really well.”

Harvard dominated against Yale on Friday, clocking in five 3-0 sweeps that day. Sobhy led the team with her sound defeat of Jenny Scherl at the No. 1 position. Senior Julianne Chu also contributed a 3-0 win over Jocelyn Lehman at the No. 8 position. With this win, Chu maintained her perfect record for the season.

Juniors Michelle Gemmell and Karki as well as sophomore Katherine Tutrone also did not drop any matches to the Bulldogs.

“Overall I think our team has been really strong this past week,” Murray said. “Individually, everyone has been really focused and really on her personal game plan and making adjustments each game from match to match and really bringing everything they have each day.”

Harvard lost only four matches on the day, with players dropping matches at the No. 3, No. 5, No. 7 and No. 9 positions. Yong came away with her ninth straight victory to open her Crimson career.

“What we’re taking from other games is really just hustling for every point, staying strong mentally, being competitive,” Mehta said. “We’re hoping to take that fight and determination into Nationals with us.”

—Staff writer Katherine H. Scott can be reached at katherinescott@college.harvard.edu.