Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Women's Squash Eyes Critical Ivy Pair, Including Showdown At #1 Harvard
January 12, 2012 | Women's Squash
With any margin for error eliminated in an early-season 6-3 loss to Penn, the Princeton women's squash team will head to New England this weekend looking to put itself right back into the Ivy League race.
Fourth-ranked Princeton is currently 4-1 this season, including four wins by matching 9-0 scores. The lone loss, a 6-3 defeat to No. 3 Penn, has left Princeton fighting to keep pace in the league standings. It can make a big step forward this weekend with a pair of road matches, starting Saturday at noon against No. 8 Dartmouth.
Following that match, Princeton will head to Boston for a 2 p.m. match against the top-ranked and undefeated Harvard Crimson.
Princeton is led by junior Julie Cerullo, a two-time All-America and the third-ranked payer in the nation. A 2011 national individual semifinalist, Cerullo is 5-0 and hasn't dropped an individual game this season. Cerullo and senior co-captain Katie Giovinazzo are the veterans on a team that has started seven underclassmen through much of the season. Freshman Nicole Bunyan is also 5-0 on the season and has won 15 of 16 individual games.
Dartmouth is currently 1-1 on the season, with its lone loss coming by an 8-1 score to Harvard. The Big Green is led by junior Corey Schafer, who ended last season ranked 34th nationally. Katherine Nimmo was Dartmouth's lone player scoring a win in the Harvard match; she scored a 3-0 win over Yuleissy Ramirez at the No. 9 position.
Harvard is currently 7-0 this season and is a three-time national finalist. Led by two of the top five players in the national rankings (No. 2 Laura Gemmell and No. 5 Nirasha Guruge), the Crimson has won 59 of 63 individual matches through the early part of its season. The Crimson, which will host No. 3 Penn Saturday afternoon, defeated Princeton 7-2 last season. Tiger sophomore Libby Eyre scored a thrilling 3-2 victory (9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7) at the No. 3 spot.