Princeton University Athletics
Sunday, January 14
Princeton, N.J.
12:00 PM
Princeton University
8
vs
1
Yale
Isabel Hirshberg clinched the win over Yale Sunday with a 3-0 win at the #8 spot.
Photo by: David Keating
Princeton Caps Huge Week With 8-1 Win Over Yale
January 14, 2018 | Women's Squash
The Princeton women's squash team completed one of its best weeks of competition this decade Sunday afternoon with an 8-1 victory over a strong Yale squad that was coming off an upset of Penn Saturday afternoon. The victory sends the Tigers into the finals break with a 9-0 record, including a 2-0 mark in the Ivy League, and important momentum going into the final stretch of the season.
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While the final 8-1 score looks dominant, most of the individual matches were highly competitive. Princeton posted a perfect 4-0 record during the first shift, but each match went at least four games. Olivia Fiechter (#1), Samantha Chai (#4), and Emme Leonard (#6) were each tied 1-1 in their respective matches, and all three swept the third and fourth games to open a 3-0 lead.
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The biggest momentum builder of the opening shift came on Court 4, where senior co-captain Kira Keating found herself down 2-0 at the #7 spot. Keating, a four-year starter who has seen her fair share of pressure matches, handled the moment in style and came back with wins of 11-2, 11-9, and 11-2 to take the match.
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Yale showed plenty of fight in the second shift, but the Bulldogs had no margin for error, and Princeton junior Isabel Hirshberg made sure to clinch the team victory early with a 3-0 win at the No. 8 spot.
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Freshmen Raneem El Torky and Grace Doyle both experienced their first high-pressure home matches against Trinity on Thursday, and both fell short in Princeton's thrilling 5-4 win. They turned that experience into a positive three days later, as both won tight matches near the top of the lineup. El Torky rallied from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1, as well as an 8-7 deficit in the fifth game, for an 11-8 win in the fifth (see match ball under the individual scores). Doyle dropped a tight 13-11 opener, but she showed poise at the #3 spot in wins of 11-9, 11-9, and 11-7.
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Sophomore Madison Soukup closed the match with a 3-1 win to clinch the 8-1 win.
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Princeton will return to the court Wednesday, Jan. 31, for a 5 pm match at Penn.
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PRINCETON 8, YALE 1
1 – Olivia Fiechter (P) d. Lucy Beecroft 9, (10), 4, 11
2 – Raneem El Torky (P) d. Celine Yeap (7), 6, (7), 5, 8
3 – Grace Doyle (P) d. Helen Teegan (11), 9, 9, 7
4 – Samantha Chai (P) d. Aishwarya Battacharya 8, (1), 9, 2
5 – Jocelyn Lehman (Y) d. Morgan Steelman 4, (9), 6, 6
6 – Emme Leonard (P) d. Selena Maity 5, (8), 3, 6
7 – Kira Keating (P) d. Riya Mital (10), (7), 2, 9, 2
8 – Isabel Hirshberg (P) d. Alexis Lazor 6, 5, 5
9 – Madison Soukup (P) d. Jennifer Davis 7, 5, (6), 10
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While the final 8-1 score looks dominant, most of the individual matches were highly competitive. Princeton posted a perfect 4-0 record during the first shift, but each match went at least four games. Olivia Fiechter (#1), Samantha Chai (#4), and Emme Leonard (#6) were each tied 1-1 in their respective matches, and all three swept the third and fourth games to open a 3-0 lead.
Â
The biggest momentum builder of the opening shift came on Court 4, where senior co-captain Kira Keating found herself down 2-0 at the #7 spot. Keating, a four-year starter who has seen her fair share of pressure matches, handled the moment in style and came back with wins of 11-2, 11-9, and 11-2 to take the match.
Â
Yale showed plenty of fight in the second shift, but the Bulldogs had no margin for error, and Princeton junior Isabel Hirshberg made sure to clinch the team victory early with a 3-0 win at the No. 8 spot.
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Freshmen Raneem El Torky and Grace Doyle both experienced their first high-pressure home matches against Trinity on Thursday, and both fell short in Princeton's thrilling 5-4 win. They turned that experience into a positive three days later, as both won tight matches near the top of the lineup. El Torky rallied from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1, as well as an 8-7 deficit in the fifth game, for an 11-8 win in the fifth (see match ball under the individual scores). Doyle dropped a tight 13-11 opener, but she showed poise at the #3 spot in wins of 11-9, 11-9, and 11-7.
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Sophomore Madison Soukup closed the match with a 3-1 win to clinch the 8-1 win.
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Princeton will return to the court Wednesday, Jan. 31, for a 5 pm match at Penn.
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PRINCETON 8, YALE 1
1 – Olivia Fiechter (P) d. Lucy Beecroft 9, (10), 4, 11
2 – Raneem El Torky (P) d. Celine Yeap (7), 6, (7), 5, 8
3 – Grace Doyle (P) d. Helen Teegan (11), 9, 9, 7
4 – Samantha Chai (P) d. Aishwarya Battacharya 8, (1), 9, 2
5 – Jocelyn Lehman (Y) d. Morgan Steelman 4, (9), 6, 6
6 – Emme Leonard (P) d. Selena Maity 5, (8), 3, 6
7 – Kira Keating (P) d. Riya Mital (10), (7), 2, 9, 2
8 – Isabel Hirshberg (P) d. Alexis Lazor 6, 5, 5
9 – Madison Soukup (P) d. Jennifer Davis 7, 5, (6), 10
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ÂFreshman Raneem El Torky puts the exclamation point on an 8-1 win over Yale today ... what a week for the Tigers! pic.twitter.com/qyR2BNFNgJ
— Gail Ramsay (@TigerSquash1) January 14, 2018
Players Mentioned
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