W. Squash Surrenders Its Crown

The end of an era isn’t supposed to be this anticlimactic.

After a nail-biter of a 5-4 loss to Princeton handed the Harvard women’s squash team its first Ivy League loss in three years, the Crimson still had a chance to claim a share of its fourth-straight league title with a win over Yale. But the young, feisty Bulldog squad dismantled Harvard 7-2 and the Ivy crown slipped out of reach for the first time in any of the current players’ Crimson careers.

The two league losses left Harvard with a 4-2 Ivy record (5-3 overall), leaving the team with a third-place finish in the league for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. The Crimson still finished the season ranked No. 4 in the nation.

Yale and Princeton also overwhelmed Harvard at the Howe Cup—the intercollegiate national championship—and the Bulldogs went on to claim the national title after defeating 2002 and 2003 national champion Trinity.

“Yale has been building up a solid, deep team these past few years,” sophomore Moira Weigel said after the dual-meet loss to the Bulldogs. “It’s difficult to compete with the kind of talent that they’re bringing in.”

The Crimson started off the season on cruise control against its usual lineup of weak Ivy opponents like Cornell and Brown. While an 8-1 loss to then-No. 1 Trinity was a disappointing, if familiar, situation—Harvard has not beaten the Bantams since the 2000-2001 season—the Crimson regained its winning ways until the Tigers provided the first of several unpleasant reality checks.

“It’s sad, but you can’t win it every year,” co-captain Louisa Hall said of the Ivy title. “I’m lucky to have won it three times.”

But despite late-season slipups, Harvard can counter that it has been bringing in talent of its own to rival the stacked arsenals of league competition. Hall is the only starting senior graduating from a deep ladder of players that will certainly challenge the ever-increasing competitiveness of the Ivy League and the college squash scene in general.

Freshmen Audrey Duboc and Lydia Williams quickly adapted to the trials of the collegiate stage and settled into the No. 3 and No. 4 slots, respectively, bolstering the Crimson’s established 1-2 punch of Hall and junior Lindsey Wilkins.

Williams made for one of the season highlights in her final dual-match outing of the season, downing all three competitors she faced over the Howe Cup weekend despite each match going to five games.

For her part, Duboc went 6-2 in regular-season dual matches in her rookie season and was named to the All-Ivy team along with Hall and Wilkins, who have each been named to the All-Ivy team for four and three consecutive years, respectively. Wilkins will be co-captain this year along with current junior co-captain Hilary Thorndike.

The Crimson’s source of strength over the years has often come from its depth. Harvard poses an equal threat throughout the bottom half of its ladder, with the No. 9 slot often being as dangerous a competitor as the No. 5. That trend continued this year despite early injuries and a roster that was uncertain until well into the season. Junior Stephanie Hendricks missed some early-season action due to lingering ankle ligament problems. She has had surgery in the offseason and should make a full recovery in time for next year.

Sophomore Moira Weigel was a late joiner to the team this season, after contemplating taking time away from the squad to focus more on academics. Weigel returned for the Crimson’s match against Dartmouth, and despite early rusty performances, she regained her freshman form by the end of the season.

The loss of Ivy glory is not the only era ending in 2004. The loss of Hall will indeed be a staggering one. Wilkins called her captain and close friend “irreplaceable.”

“No one can replace her,” Wilkins said, citing Hall’s leadership during her two-year captaincy. “I’m not gonna know what to do without her.”

Hall has been the equivalent of a franchise player during the past four years, playing at No. 1 virtually her entire career and helping to lead the Crimson to a national title in her freshman season as well as the three Ivy championships. Consistently ranked as one of the top collegiate players in the country, Hall finished this season ranked at intercollegiate No. 6 and continues to compete on a national and international level. She recently made the U.S. National Team for the second straight year.

The Crimson expects two or three promising recruits to help shore up the ladder next season, though under-19 champion Lily Lorentzen, who has been accepted to Harvard, is postponing college matriculation to compete professionally. She is expected to enroll in fall 2005.

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