Princeton University Athletics
Photo by: Beverly Schaefer
Princeton Wins Howe Cup Quarterfinal, Sets Up Trinity Showdown Saturday
February 22, 2019 | Women's Squash
HOWE CUP BRACKETS
The second-seeded Princeton women's squash team took care of its Howe Cup quarterfinal business Friday, dominating the bottom six positions in a x-x victory over seventh-seeded Columbia. That win set up the highly anticipated Saturday semifinal with host Trinity, an 8-1 winner over Penn Friday.
The Tigers, who used impressive depth to post a 13-1 regular-season record and the #2 overall ranking, showed off that strength throughout the lineup in their 2019 Howe Cup opener. Princeton won every individual game from the #4 through #9 positions to return to the semifinal round of the national championships.
Senior co-captain Isabel Hirshberg set the tone immediately, dropping only six points in her win at the #9 spot. Sophomore Emme Leonard had to battle a bit longer, but her 12-10 win in the third game gave Princeton a win at #6 and a 2-0 lead. Morgan Steelman and Samantha Chai quickly followed with wins, and freshman Andrea Toth clinched the victory in her Howe Cup debut.
"Columbia played a great match," said head coach Gail Ramsay, who has led Princeton to five Howe Cup titles. "Bubble at number 1 had a slow start which really hurt her in the end. However, Maddie O'Conner played a great match. At number 4 Gracie play a solid match. She was able to find her length and that put a lot of pressure on her opponent."
Senior Samantha Chai was also a 3-0 winner, though she had to grind out a pair of 11-9 victories to get it done.
"Our team was excited to win our first match at Nationals against Columbia, especially after playing them about a week ago," Chai said. "Some of us spent time getting used to the courts and the energy, but we'll be ready to get back to business tomorrow for Trinity."
All eyes will now be on Courts 1, 8 and 9 for Saturday's 2 pm semifinal against the third-seeded Bantams, who were impressive in their victory over Penn Friday. Princeton won a 5-4 thriller at Trinity during the regular season, but the Bantams were without their #1 player in that match.
While the host will be looking to avenge the regular season loss, six of Princeton's nine starters would love to create new postseason memories after falling to the Bantams in the 2018 Howe Cup semifinal. The winner of the Princeton-Trinity match will face the winner of the other 2 pm semifinal, which pits reigning champion Harvard against Stanford, which fought off Yale in a 5-4 thriller.
PRINCETON 6, COLUMBIA 3
1 – Madlen O'Connor (C) d. Bubble Lui 4, 8, (8), 4
2 – Habiba Mohamed (C) d. Raneem El Torky (7), 11, 8, 6
3 – Nicole Kendall (C) d. Elle Ruggiero (7), (4), 7, 12, 6
4 – Grace Doyle (P) d. Jui Kalgutkar 4, 4, 8
5 – Samantha Chai (P) d. Jane Pincus 0, 9, 9
6 – Emme Leonard (P) d. Doria Chen 3, 6, 10
7 – Andrea Toth (P) d. Pranjali Sharma 8, 7, 3
8 – Morgan Steelman (P) d. Julia Masch 5, 4, 2
9 – Isabel Hirshberg (P) d. Caroline Soper 2, 1, 3
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