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Fourth-Ranked Tigers Bring Confidence Into Upcoming Howe Cup Championships
February 10, 2015 | Women's Squash
Check back with GoPrincetonTigers.com throughout the week for full coverage of the Howe Cup, including a video interview with senior All-America Nicole Bunyan, as well as a visit with head coach Gail Ramsay on the upcoming edition of TigerCast.
The Princeton women's squash team will be seeded fourth at the upcoming Howe Cup national team championships, held Feb. 15-17 in Boston. The Tigers will open the competition with a quarterfinal showdown against Yale.
The six main courts at Harvard will be streamed live throughout the Howe Cup on the Ivy League Digital Network (subscription required). Competition will start for Princeton Friday at noon on Courts 1-2-3; if the Tigers win, they will likely face top-seeded Harvard Saturday at 1:30 on Courts 4-5, as well as the glass court.
The last two teams standing will meet for the national team championship Sunday at 1 pm on Courts 4-5, as well as the glass court. The top seeds on the other side of the draw include second-seeded Penn, which upset Harvard to win the 2015 Ivy League championship, and reigning Howe Cup champion Trinity, which is seeded third.
Before Princeton can worry about any of the top seeds, it will need to hold off a strong Yale squad. Since the start of Princeton's 2013 Ivy League championship season, the Tigers and Bulldogs have met four times, and every match has ended 5-4. Princeton won two (2013, 2015 regular season), and Yale won two (both last season, including the Howe Cup quarterfinal).
The most recent meeting was a 5-4 Tiger win in New Haven, when Princeton pulled out a pair of five-game thrillers to post the road win. Assuming no injuries, the majority of the matchups should be the same from the matchup on Super Bowl Sunday to the one that will happen Friday. Among those matches were 3-0 wins from Princeton underclassmen Olivia Fiechter and Maria Elena Ubina at the top two spots.
If Princeton can complete the season sweep, the Tigers would take on top-ranked Harvard in its home courts. The Crimson defeated Princeton 7-2 in Jadwin earlier this season, though Harvard is without its No. 2 player from that day, so many of the matchups would be different. The Crimson would still be led by senior Amanda Sobhy, who is undefeated in her collegiate career and a three-time national champion.
Besides the momentum of a five-match win streak, Princeton brings significant experience into the weekend. The Tigers have three seniors (Nicole Bunyan, Hallie Dewey and Alex Lunt) who played as freshmen in the 2011 Howe Cup, and they will start as many as seven players with Howe Cup experience.