Princeton University Athletics
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Women's Squash Hosts Home Trio, Including Reigning Champ Harvard
February 03, 2011 | Women's Squash
The Princeton women's squash team will look to break a two-match skid and get itself back in winning form before the 2011 Howe Cup national team championships, which are coming to Jadwin Gym Feb. 18-20.
Princeton is 6-2 on the season and 2-2 in the Ivy League, although its two losses have come in its last two matches. The Tigers dropped a home 5-4 heartbreaker to fifth-ranked Penn last Wednesday, and then fell 7-2 at Yale Saturday. The loss to Yale basically eliminated Princeton from Ivy League contention, but there is still plenty to play for this weekend.
Friday will provide a good test against the sixth-ranked Stanford Cardinal, which will be taking on Dartmouth and Penn during an East Coast trip this weekend. Princeton and Stanford split a pair last season, with the Tigers winning an 8-1 decision in the Howe Cup consolation round. The winner of Friday's match will have the inside track on the fifth seed for the Howe Cup championships; for the Tigers, that could mean a rematch with Penn on the first day of the tournament.
Princeton will take on Dartmouth at noon Saturday; the Tigers defeated the Big Green 8-1 last season. Dartmouth is 7-4 on the season, but comes into the weekend looking for its first Ivy League win.
The highlight of the weekend will take place Sunday at 2:30, when the Tigers take on top-ranked Harvard at the Jadwin Squash Courts. The matchup will be between the last four Howe Cup national champions; Harvard ended Princeton's three-year reign last season with a 6-3 victory over Penn. In 2009, Princeton went to Harvard and won a 5-4 thriller over the Crimson in the national final.
Harvard, which will take on Penn Saturday, comes into the weekend without having lost a single individual match this season. Nirasha Guruge and Alisha Mashruwala comprise a talented top two for Harvard, which hasn't played a match since Jan. 19.
This will be final regular season home weekend for senior co-captains Jackie Moss and Nikki Sequieria, both of whom scored wins over No. 2 Yale last weekend. Moss has been especially impressive this season, winning all eight of her matches and dropping only one individual game all season. Sequeira is 6-1 and won a five-game thriller over Yale's Katie Ballaine with a gutsy 15-13 victory in the fifth and decisive game.