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Women's Squash Update 1
Photo courtesy of Yale Sports Publicity
PRINCETON, N.J. -- Six of the eight Ivy League
women’s squash teams have opened their 2011-12 campaigns as
the squads have combined for a 9-2 record so far this season.
Harvard and Princeton lead the way at 2-0 apiece while Columbia and
Dartmouth are each 1-0. Cornell is 3-1 and Brown dropped its only
contest of the year.
The Ivy League has seven teams in the top-10 of the Dunlop
Women’s College Squash Association (CSA) Team Rankings,
including the top three teams in Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Penn
is No. 5, Cornell and Dartmouth are No. 7 and No. 8, respectively,
and Brown comes in at No. 10. Columbia is ranked No. 16 in the
country.
Women’s CSA team rankings as of Nov.
14
Here is a team-by-team look at the Ivy League squads this
season:
Brown (0-1, 0-0 Ivy League)
Results & Highlights: Brown dropped its
season-opener, 7-2, to No. 11 Bates. The Bears were without several
starters who will return next semester after studying abroad in the
fall. Freshman Mina Shakarshy and sophomore
Meredith Schmidt-Fellner stepped up and recorded
victories for the Bears. Last season, Brown reached its
second-straight Kurtz Cup Championship, defeating Williams to
finish ninth in the country. The Bears return eight players who
competed in the 2010-11 CSA National Team Championships.
Brown’s Return to the Courts: Dec. 3 at
Wesleyan Round Robin (Wesleyan, Conn.)
Columbia (1-0, 0-0 Ivy League)
Results & Highlights: The Lions will play a
full Ivy League schedule for the first time this season as they
look to improve on last year’s 12-6 squad that earned the
Most Improved Team Award. Columbia played hard in the Ivy League
scrimmages in New Haven, Conn., falling to Yale and Cornell before
bouncing back to defeat Brown, 5-4. In their season-opener, the
Lions defeated Toronto, 9-0, giving up just one game in the
process. Columbia returns nine players from last year’s CSA
National Team Championships, including senior Liz
Chu, who was one of two Lions to qualify for the 2010-11
CSA Individual Championships after winning eight matches in at the
No. 1 position.
Columbia’s Return to the Courts: Dec. 3 at
Cornell Tri-Meet vs. Cornell and St. Lawrence (Ithaca, N.Y.)
Cornell (3-1, 0-0 Ivy League)
Results & Highlights: The Big Red opened its
season at the Williams Round Robin in Williamstown, Mass. Cornell
fell to No. 6 Stanford, 7-2, before rebounding to shut out No. 12
Middlebury, No. 9 Williams and No. 13 Mount Holyoke. Sophomore
Jesse Pacheco and freshman Lindsay
Seginson each picked up four wins over the weekend while
senior Clare Berner, sophomore Alexandra Glassman
and freshmen Danielle Letourneau and
Rachel Au all won three straight-set matches
apiece. Senior Lauren Sachvie took a pair of
three-set matches, including a win against Williams that involved a
marathon 22-20 victory to wrap up the match. The Big Red returns
all but one player from its 2010-11 team, including junior
Jaime Laird, who earned All-Ivy League Team and
second-team All-America honors last season.
Cornell’s Return to the Courts: Dec. 3 vs.
Columbia at St. Lawrence at Cornell Tri-Meet (Ithaca, N.Y.)
Dartmouth (1-1, 0-1 Ivy League)
Results & Highlights: After a strong showing
in the Ivy League scrimmages that saw the Big Green defeat Brown,
9-0, Dartmouth opened its season against No. 17 Franklin &
Marshall, handing the Diplomats a 9-0 loss. The Big Green swept all
but one match in the win. Freshman Helena Darling
and sophomore Katherine Nimmo posted impressive
victories for Dartmouth, as each won their match 11-3, 11-4 and
11-2. Dartmouth then faced top-ranked Harvard and fell, 8-1.
Nimmo was the lone victor for the Big Green. Junior Valerie
Wiens returns from last year’s squad; the junior was
named second-team All-American and All-Ivy League.
Dartmouth’s Return to the Courts: Jan. 14,
2012 vs. Princeton
Harvard (4-0, 1-0 Ivy League)
Results & Highlights: The top-ranked Crimson
is 2-0 to open the season, with wins over a pair of top-10 teams in
No. 6 Stanford and No. 9 Williams. Competing in the Williams Round
Robin in Williamstown, Mass., Harvard defeated the Cardinal, 6-3,
before sweeping the host Ephs, 9-0. Freshman Haley
Mendez opened her college career with two wins. The
Crimson then defeated No. 12 Middlebury, 8-1, and handed No. 8
Dartmouth its first loss of the season, winning 8-1. Last season,
Harvard finished second in both the Ivy League and the CSA National
Championships to Yale, going 11-2 on the year. The team returns
2010-11 Ivy League Player of the Year Laura
Gemmell, who also earned first-team All-America honors.
Senior Nirasha Guruge (first-team All-American),
junior Natasha Kingshott (second-team
All-American) and senior Cece Cortes (second-team
All-American) are also back for the Crimson.
Harvard’s Return To The Courts: Dec. 2 vs.
NYU
Penn (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League)
Results & Highlights: The Quakers find
themselves ranked fifth in the nation after finishing fifth in the
Howe Cap a season ago. Penn finished the 2010-11 season 10-4
overall, including a 2-1 record at the Howe Cup. The Quakers placed
third in the Ivy League and return eight of their top-nine in the
ladder from last season, including two-time second-team
All-American and 2010-11 All-Ivy League honoree Nabilla
Ariffin. She is joined by three other three other
All-Americans in juniors Rachael Goh,
Yarden Odinak and Pia Trikha. Goh
also received All-Ivy Team accolades.
Penn’s Return To The Courts: Dec. 3 vs.
Princeton
Princeton (2-0, 0-0 Ivy League)
Results & Highlights: The Tigers took third in
the CSA National Team Championships despite the fact it was given
the fifth-seed prior to the event. Princeton toppled No. 4 Penn to
reach the semifinals and battled No. 1 and eventual champion Yale
before falling, 6-3. The Tigers took down No. 3 Trinity in the
consolation championship match. Princeton started 2011-12 where it
left off last season, ranked No. 3 in the country. The Tigers
opened their season with a pair of shutout victories over No. 17
Franklin & Marshall and No. 12 Middlebury. Two All-Americans
return for Princeton in junior Julie Cerullo
(first team) and sophomore Libby Eyre (second
team). Cerullo also was named All-Ivy last season.
Princeton’s Return To The Courts: Dec. 3 at
Penn
Yale (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League)
Results & Highlights: The Bulldogs posted a
perfect season in 2010-11, finishing 17-0 and winning both the Ivy
League and the CSA National Championship. Yale enters this season
ranked No. 2 but will be hard-pressed to repeat last year’s
success as three key members of last year’s championship
squad have graduated. The Bulldogs will look to 2010-11 Ivy League
Rookie of the Year and first-team All-American Millie
Tomlinson and second-team All-American Kimberly
Hay to pick up where the departed seniors left off.
Tomlinson is the defending CSA individual champion. In its first
action of the 2011-12 season, Yale reached the championship match
at the Ivy League scrimmages, falling to top-ranked Harvard,
6-3.
Yale’s Return To The Courts: Dec. 3 at
Franklin & Marshall, at Haverford
