Racquetwomen Win Twice In Head-to-Head Finale

The Harvard women's squash team concluded its head-to-head schedule last night with a pair of resounding 7-0 shutouts of Amherst and Trinity College last night in Amherst, Mass.

Despite the absence of two top players--Lisa Harrison and Sarah Mleczko--the racquetwomen disposed of the two adversaries with characteristic aplomb, dropping only three games while prevailing in 42.

The squad thus finishes its season with only two losses in head-to-head competition--a 6-1 defeat inflicted by powerful Princeton and a disappointing decision in New Haven, where flu-plagued Crimson racquetwomen fell, 5-2, in a tight contest.

The top five racquetwomen, however, have not finished their seasonal travails; they will enter the Women's Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Association championship tournament this weekend in Princeton's spacious Jadwin Gymnasium.

Last night, the Crimson avoided the possible pitfall of a letdown against lesser opponents, mustering elan to devastate the two clearly inferior squads.

Second-slotted Courtney Stimpson, third-ranked freshman Jackie Corrigan and the last three racquetwomen in the line-up all registered a pair of 3-0 victories.

Meager

Number five Wendy Sonnabend swept her matches, allowing a meager 15 points in her confrontation against Amherst. Libby Pierpont also encountered a minimum of difficulty, taking six games without dropping any. Pierpont recorded an impressive 15-7, 15-7, 15-2 victory in her denouement against the host team.

Similarly, junior Ellie Cunningham rode the crest of the Crimson's tide. She notched two 3-0 shutout wins, breezing against Amherst, 15-8, 15-7, 15-8.

The strong Crimson performance shows the depth that has developed over the course of the year. Aside from a handful of tough confrontations, the Crimson's most heated competition has come from its own ranks, in intra-squad ladder challenges.

Captain Jenny Stone was extended to 3-2 in her contest with Trinity after trailing love-two. She then cruised to a 3-0 win in the second half of the squash doubleheader.

In the parking lot afterwards, the Crimson awarded Stone with a case of Molson beer in recognition of her splendid Howe Cup performance, in which she went undefeated and dropped the fewer points than any other team member.

And top-ranked Becky Tung capped off her second superb season in a row by notching two more victories, 3-0 and 3-1.