Wednesday, January 31
Princeton, NJ
7:00 pm
Princeton University
7
vs
2
Penn
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Squash
/ Women's Squash
/ Women's Squash
/ Women's Squash
/ Women's Squash
/ Women's Squash
/ Women's Squash
/ Women's Squash
/ Women's Squash
Women's Squash Upends No. 1 Penn, Takes Control Of Ivy Title Race
February 01, 2007 | Women's Squash
A trio of gutsy wins by its freshman class and the signature victory for longtime No. 1 Claire Rein-Weston pushed the Princeton women's squash team to an exciting and critically important 7-2 victory over the Penn Quakers Wednesday night at the Jadwin Squash Courts. The win puts Princeton in control of the Ivy League race while toppling the No. 1 team in the country.
The victory puts Princeton in position to make history this weekend. The Tigers, who came out of winter break with a 6-3 win over No. 3 Trinity on Monday, will have the chance to sweep the top three teams in the nation over the span of six days. Princeton will face defending national champion and current No. 2 squad Yale in New Haven, Conn., this Saturday.
Wednesday's match didn't exactly start perfectly for Princeton, which sent its Nos. 2, 4, 6 and 8 players out for the first round of matches. The only 3-0 decision in those matches came at No. 4, where talented Penn freshman Britt Hebden played a terrific match to defeat Princeton senior Gen Lessard 9-3, 9-0, 9-2. Lessard, whose five-game comeback win against Trinity ignited Monday's win, was never able to gain momentum in the loss.
At the same time, former Princeton No. 2 Casey Riley dropped her first game 9-6 to Tara Chawla. The experienced Riley was able to come back for a 9-5 win in the second game that evened the match, and she would lose only four points the rest of the way for a 3-1 win.
“I thought Casey Riley overcame early nerves in that first game,” head coach Gail Ramsay said. “She came out really strong in the fourth game and put her opponent under pressure. She played good, deep shots and moved her around a lot.”
Princeton went up 2-1 when No. 8 player Carly Grabowski maintained her career undefeated record in dual meets with a 10-8, 9-7, 3-9, 9-2 win over Lauralunn Drury. The fiercely competitive Grabowski came out in the fourth game and took control of the court and the shots, and she kept herself in position to be the aggressor in the final game.
That left the No. 2 match as the final one for the first round, and with Penn's Sydney Scott holding a 2-1 edge over fellow freshman Neha Kumar, it looked like the Quakers might manage a first-round split. Instead, Kumar rallied to win 18 of the final 25 points to win the match 3-2 and give Princeton full momentum moving forward.
“Neha played an incredible match,” Ramsay said. “Tactically, I thought she played a brilliant game and was able to keep her opponent off-balance. She pushed herself through the match, which was quite a valiant effort after struggling with her health last week. She had to play really well, because her opponent, Sydney, is quite a strong player.”
Princeton gained its fourth win with a dominant 3-0 win from Ali Pearson at No. 5. Her power controlled the day against Radhika Ahluwalia, and she came away with a 9-3, 9-0, 9-4 win. Penn picked up its second win when former Quaker No. 1 player Alisha Turner stopped Marilla Hiltz 9-3, 9-4, 9-6 in a matchup Ramsay felt pitted the two best No. 7 players in the country.
The Quaker momentum wouldn't last long, though, as freshman Kaitlin Sennatt clinched the team win with a 10-8, 9-2, 9-6 win over Christina Matthias. It was a matchup of strong hitters, and after overcoming some early nerves, Sennatt proved to be the bigger hitter of the day.
While the team victory was decided, there was still plenty of excitement left on the court. Rein-Weston, the longtime No. 1 player for Princeton, picked up arguably the best win of her career with a 6-9, 9-7, 9-6, 9-7 victory over Penn freshman Kristen Lange. The win avenged a 3-0 loss to Lange in the Constable Invitational last December and built on a tremendous effort Monday night in a 3-2 loss against Trinity's No. 1 player, Vaidehi Reddy.
Freshman Amanda Siebert, who lost a five-game match against Trinity two nights earlier, stepped into another five-game showdown against senior Paula Pearson. Siebert claimed 10-9 and 9-0 wins in the first two games, but the experienced Pearson bounced back for 9-7 and 9-5 wins in the next two.
“Amanda came out in fifth game and opened up the court with good drops and cut off a few balls in the air,” Ramsay said of Siebert's match-clinching 9-4 win in the fifth game. “She played a very solid fifth game in what was a physically draining match.”
A clearly tough week won't get any easier when Princeton travels to New Haven this weekend.
“It was good to come out of exams, play a good match Monday and then play a little better against Penn,” she said. “Now we need to stay on track and look ahead to Yale. I still feel we can play even better, and we'll need to be ready up there against a tough team.”
PRINCETON 7, PENN 2
1 – Claire Rein-Weston (Pr) d. Kristen Lange 6-9, 9-7, 9-6, 9-7
2 – Neha Kumar (Pr) d. Sydney Scott 9-7, 8-10, 7-9, 9-4, 9-3
3 – Amanda Siebert (Pr) d. Paula Pearson 10-9, 9-0, 7-9, 5-9, 9-4
4 – Britt Hebden (Pe) d. Gen Lessard 3-9, 0-9, 2-9
5 – Ali Pearson (Pr) d. Radhika Ahluwalia 9-3, 9-0, 9-4
6 – Casey Riley (Pr) d. Tara Chawla 6-9, 9-5, 9-4, 9-0
7 – Alisha Turner (Pe) d. Marilla Hiltz 9-3, 9-4, 9-6
8 – Carly Grabowski (Pr) d. Lauralynn Drury 10-8, 9-7, 3-9, 9-2
9 – Kaitlin Sennatt (Pr) d. Christina Matthias 10-8, 9-2, 9-6
The victory puts Princeton in position to make history this weekend. The Tigers, who came out of winter break with a 6-3 win over No. 3 Trinity on Monday, will have the chance to sweep the top three teams in the nation over the span of six days. Princeton will face defending national champion and current No. 2 squad Yale in New Haven, Conn., this Saturday.
Wednesday's match didn't exactly start perfectly for Princeton, which sent its Nos. 2, 4, 6 and 8 players out for the first round of matches. The only 3-0 decision in those matches came at No. 4, where talented Penn freshman Britt Hebden played a terrific match to defeat Princeton senior Gen Lessard 9-3, 9-0, 9-2. Lessard, whose five-game comeback win against Trinity ignited Monday's win, was never able to gain momentum in the loss.
At the same time, former Princeton No. 2 Casey Riley dropped her first game 9-6 to Tara Chawla. The experienced Riley was able to come back for a 9-5 win in the second game that evened the match, and she would lose only four points the rest of the way for a 3-1 win.
“I thought Casey Riley overcame early nerves in that first game,” head coach Gail Ramsay said. “She came out really strong in the fourth game and put her opponent under pressure. She played good, deep shots and moved her around a lot.”
Princeton went up 2-1 when No. 8 player Carly Grabowski maintained her career undefeated record in dual meets with a 10-8, 9-7, 3-9, 9-2 win over Lauralunn Drury. The fiercely competitive Grabowski came out in the fourth game and took control of the court and the shots, and she kept herself in position to be the aggressor in the final game.
That left the No. 2 match as the final one for the first round, and with Penn's Sydney Scott holding a 2-1 edge over fellow freshman Neha Kumar, it looked like the Quakers might manage a first-round split. Instead, Kumar rallied to win 18 of the final 25 points to win the match 3-2 and give Princeton full momentum moving forward.
“Neha played an incredible match,” Ramsay said. “Tactically, I thought she played a brilliant game and was able to keep her opponent off-balance. She pushed herself through the match, which was quite a valiant effort after struggling with her health last week. She had to play really well, because her opponent, Sydney, is quite a strong player.”
Princeton gained its fourth win with a dominant 3-0 win from Ali Pearson at No. 5. Her power controlled the day against Radhika Ahluwalia, and she came away with a 9-3, 9-0, 9-4 win. Penn picked up its second win when former Quaker No. 1 player Alisha Turner stopped Marilla Hiltz 9-3, 9-4, 9-6 in a matchup Ramsay felt pitted the two best No. 7 players in the country.
The Quaker momentum wouldn't last long, though, as freshman Kaitlin Sennatt clinched the team win with a 10-8, 9-2, 9-6 win over Christina Matthias. It was a matchup of strong hitters, and after overcoming some early nerves, Sennatt proved to be the bigger hitter of the day.
While the team victory was decided, there was still plenty of excitement left on the court. Rein-Weston, the longtime No. 1 player for Princeton, picked up arguably the best win of her career with a 6-9, 9-7, 9-6, 9-7 victory over Penn freshman Kristen Lange. The win avenged a 3-0 loss to Lange in the Constable Invitational last December and built on a tremendous effort Monday night in a 3-2 loss against Trinity's No. 1 player, Vaidehi Reddy.
Freshman Amanda Siebert, who lost a five-game match against Trinity two nights earlier, stepped into another five-game showdown against senior Paula Pearson. Siebert claimed 10-9 and 9-0 wins in the first two games, but the experienced Pearson bounced back for 9-7 and 9-5 wins in the next two.
“Amanda came out in fifth game and opened up the court with good drops and cut off a few balls in the air,” Ramsay said of Siebert's match-clinching 9-4 win in the fifth game. “She played a very solid fifth game in what was a physically draining match.”
A clearly tough week won't get any easier when Princeton travels to New Haven this weekend.
“It was good to come out of exams, play a good match Monday and then play a little better against Penn,” she said. “Now we need to stay on track and look ahead to Yale. I still feel we can play even better, and we'll need to be ready up there against a tough team.”
PRINCETON 7, PENN 2
1 – Claire Rein-Weston (Pr) d. Kristen Lange 6-9, 9-7, 9-6, 9-7
2 – Neha Kumar (Pr) d. Sydney Scott 9-7, 8-10, 7-9, 9-4, 9-3
3 – Amanda Siebert (Pr) d. Paula Pearson 10-9, 9-0, 7-9, 5-9, 9-4
4 – Britt Hebden (Pe) d. Gen Lessard 3-9, 0-9, 2-9
5 – Ali Pearson (Pr) d. Radhika Ahluwalia 9-3, 9-0, 9-4
6 – Casey Riley (Pr) d. Tara Chawla 6-9, 9-5, 9-4, 9-0
7 – Alisha Turner (Pe) d. Marilla Hiltz 9-3, 9-4, 9-6
8 – Carly Grabowski (Pr) d. Lauralynn Drury 10-8, 9-7, 3-9, 9-2
9 – Kaitlin Sennatt (Pr) d. Christina Matthias 10-8, 9-2, 9-6
Princeton Athletics 2023-24 Highlights
Tuesday, June 04
Highlights from 2022 Gary Walters ’67 PVC Awards Banquet
Wednesday, June 22
Princeton Athletics 2021-22 Highlights
Monday, June 06
PVC Winter Coaches Luncheon (2022)
Tuesday, March 01