W. Squash Cruises To Easy 9-0 Victory

The members of the No. 2 Harvard women’s squash team barely broke a sweat during Saturday’s match against Cornell.

But the lack of exertion did not come from a lack of effort on the part of the Crimson (2-0, 2-0 Ivy). It was just that its 9-0 trouncing of the Big Red (0-4, 0-3) did not require an excess of effort.

Harvard had only one player drop a game and saw its top three—co-captain and intercollegiate No. 3 Louisa Hall, junior intercollegiate No. 6 Lindsey Wilkins and freshman Audrey Duboc—each lose only one point in their matches.

“Overall we were expecting a very satisfactory victory,” said Harvard coach Satinder Bajwa.

Cornell has never beaten the Crimson in women’s squash.

The Big Red first fielded a team in 1997.

Though Hall admitted that Harvard was not going to take any match for granted, she said that she was looking forward to post-winter break matches against Ivy rivals such as No. 3 Yale and No. 6 Princeton as well as squash powerhouse No. 1 Trinity, a longtime Crimson nemesis.

“The part of our season after Christmas has definitely more matches against our traditional rivals for Ivy League championships or national championships,” Hall said.

On Saturday, Hall beat Cornell’s Caitlin Russell 9-1, 9-0, 9-0 and made it look easy.

The match provided another opportunity for up-and-coming freshmen to show off their talents. Along with Duboc, Lydia Williams played impressively at No. 4, coming back fiercely after losing the second game to beat Joanna Wolfson 9-1, 5-9, 9-0, 9-1.

“I talked to Audrey because she was reffing me, and she just told me to stay intense,” Williams said of her quick recovery.

Both Bajwa and Hall said that they were pleased with the performance of the newest members of a young, yet experienced squad.

“They’re awesome, they’re playing so well,” Hall said of Duboc and Williams. “Both of them have improved so much just as the season’s gone on, and they came in really strong.”

With the impending return of sophomore intercollegiate No. 15 Moira Weigel and junior intercollegiate No. 24 Laura Delano, the middle of the Harvard lineup will be further strengthened.

Bajwa said he was unsure how exactly he would shuffle the returning veterans into the ladder with the rookies. Weigel and Delano spent most of their playing time last year at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.

“We’re getting back the full squad,” Bajwa said. “That’s our full-strength team, and we should now start consolidating for the big matches coming up next month.”

The Crimson will be back in action in 2004 with a scrimmage against Yale on Jan. 10.

—Staff writer Lisa J. Kennelly can be reached at kennell@fas.harvard.edu.