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Squash Teams Stand Two Wins Away From Ivy Titles; Harvard Match Can Be Viewed Live On Tiger Zone
February 08, 2007 | Women's Squash
There have been big days and big matches at the Jadwin Squash Courts during recent years, but nothing quite like what could happen Sunday afternoon. Both the Princeton men's and women's squash teams will host an Ivy League weekend, beginning with Saturday's showdown with Dartmouth (men at noon, women at 2 p.m.). With wins on Saturday, both teams would have the chance to clinch outright Ivy League championships Sunday (men at noon, women at 3 p.m.). Sunday's Court 1 matches will be available live on TigerZone.
The women's squash team enters the weekend ranked No. 1 in the country and riding a wave of momentum created by a sweep of Trinity, Penn and Yale last weekend. At the time, those three teams represented the top three squads in the national ranking, and Yale was both the defending Ivy League and national champion. Princeton is 6-0, 4-0 in the Ivy League, and has only won three Ivy League titles. Its last title came during the 1997-98 season, but it can clinch the title with a sweep of both Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend.
Princeton has used its tremendous depth to stay unbeaten through the season. Spots five through nine have gone an amazing 28-2 this season, a mark that has included dominant performances from No. 5 Ali Pearson, No. 6 Casey Riley and No. 9 Kaitlin Sennatt last week. The top four players haven't been far behind, and each has picked up at least one critical, hard-fought victory in each key win last week. Senior Gen Lessard's rally at No. 4 ignited the win over Trinity, while No. 1 Claire Rein-Weston had the win of her career against Penn. Both No. 2 Neha Kumar and No. 3 Amanda Siebert pulled out five-game wins against former No. 1 Penn, and Kumar added another against Yale.
The Big Green, ranked No. 6 in the country, come into Saturday's match with a 10-3 record, although its three losses came to Harvard (6-3), Yale (6-3) and Trinity (8-1). The No. 3 Harvard Crimson, which pulled out a dramatic 5-4 home win against No. 4 Trinity Wednesday night, is in the middle of its toughest stretch of the season. The 6-0 Crimson will take on No. 2 Penn Saturday afternoon before traveling to Princeton for Sunday's 3:00 showdown. Harvard will also take on Yale next Wednesday before all teams descend on New Haven for the national team championships Feb. 16-18.
"All in all the team is focused and keeping things in prospective very well," Princeton head coach Gail Ramsay said. "We are trying to take each challenge one at a time. We are really looking forward to a hard-fought weekend of top college squash. I do not think we could be any more ready then we are going into this weekend."
While the women aim for their fourth Ivy League title, the No. 3 Princeton men are looking for their fourth title in six years and their 12th overall. The Tigers are 6-0, 4-0 in the Ivy League, and are coming off the high of a 6-3 victory at Yale last weekend. The team is led by its terrific sophomore trio of Mauricio Sanchez, Hesham El Halaby and Kimlee Wong, who comprise the Tigers' top three players, but freshmen Santiago Imberton and David Canner have also picked up key wins, as have the experienced upperclassmen who played on the final Sunday of 2006 for the national title.
Dartmouth is ranked eighth in the country, while Harvard enters the weekend ranked No. 2 in the nation. The Crimson are especially strong at the top of its lineup, and it used that strength to nearly stun Trinity in a 5-4 home loss Wednesday. Of course, strength at the top doesn't guarantee a win; Princeton swept spots 5-9 last year to defeat Harvard in Cambridge for a share of the Ivy League title.
All of Sunday's Court 1 action will be streamed live on Tiger Zone, which you can sign up for on GoPrincetonTigers.com.
Princeton Class of 2006 standout Yasser El Halaby, the only four-time national individual champion in collegiate men's squash, made his professional debut at the Oregon Open this weekend. He fought through two rounds of qualifying to reach the Round of 16, where he met professional veteran Shahier Razik, the tournament's sixth seed, of Canada. Although El Halaby took him to the limit in the second game, Razik was able to win 3-0. El Halaby, older brother of Princeton No. 2 Hesham El Halaby, never lost a game in four national championship matches.