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Women's Squash Sweeps Dartmouth, Prepares For Showdown With No. 1 Harvard
February 05, 2011 | Women's Squash
The Princeton women's squash team took care of business Saturday afternoon in its penultimate Ivy League match of the season, dispatching of Dartmouth 9-0 in the Jadwin Squash Courts.
It can now prepare for the biggest fish in the sea, as top-ranked Harvard, the 2010 Ivy League and Howe Cup national champion, will be coming to Jadwin for a 2:30 showdown on Super Sunday.
Knowing Sunday would likely take a marathon effort, the fifth-ranked Tiger women were highly efficient in their win over the eighth-ranked Dartmouth Big Green. Princeton won all 12 individual games in sweeping through the first shift of matches, including wins for senior co-captains Jackie Moss (No. 2) and Nikki Sequeira (No. 6).
The featured match of the day came at No. 1, as Princeton sophomore Julie Cerullo took on fellow sophomore Valeria Wiens of Dartmouth. Both players were ranked in the top six in the preseason individual rankings, and Wiens had rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Cerullo in their dual match last season.
Thus, when Cerullo jumped out to a 2-0 lead Saturday afternoon, she knew there was plenty of match to go. Wiens battled back for a tight win in the third, but Cerullo got back in control to finish it in four.
“I had come off a little rough patch against Penn and Yale, and I needed to settle in and re-focus,” said Cerullo, a 2010 first-team All-America honoree. “I won pretty decisively in the first two today, but had a little slip up in the third. I went back to basics in the fourth and used my length better.”
That was the final match on the court, as Princeton was in control of the remainder of the matches. Leading off with a 3-0 win from freshman Libby Eyre, the Tigers won 12 of the final 13 individual games in the remaining matches. There were some tense moments, especially at No. 5, where junior Katie Giovinazzo dropped the opener 11-7 and went into extra play in the second. She battled for a 16-14 win in the game and took the final two 11-6 and 11-5. Eyre had to win her second game 14-12, but followed it up with an 11-3 finish.
They can now look forward to their biggest challenge of the season, as well as the ultimate opportunity: two weeks before the Howe Cup national championships come to Jadwin Gym, Princeton can make a major statement with its biggest home win of the season against the team that ended the Tigers' three-year reign as national champions.
“We love playing here,” Cerullo said. “There is always a definite excitement at home. Every match is just as important, and we're using them all as training for the Howe Cup.
PRINCETON 9, DARTMOUTH 0
1 – Julie Cerullo (P) d. Valeria Wiens 4, 4, (9), 0
2 – Jackie Moss (P) d. Hannah Conant 9, 5, 6
3 – Libby Eyre (P) d. Corey Schafer 9, 12, 3
4 – Lexi Saunders (P) d. Becky Lau 10, 9, 5
5 – Katie Giovinazzo (P) d. Sarah Loucks (7), 14, 6, 5
6 – Nikki Sequeira (P) d. Kensy Balch 6, 3, 7
7 – Casey Cortes (P) d. Melina Turk 6, 7, 9
8 – Caroline Feeley (P) d. Katherine Nimmo 3, 3, 7
9 – Daphne Rein-Weston (P) d. Julia Watson 7, 6, 4