W. Squash Falls in Howe Cup Final

You don’t often get a second chance to knock off the No. 1 team in the country. But after trouncing Brown 9-0 and then edging Trinity 6-3 in the semifinals of the Howe Cup, the No. 2 Harvard women’s squash team was set for a Sunday showdown with top-ranked, defending champion Yale.

In the rematch of the Ivy championship game a week prior, the Crimson was unable to overcome a deep and powerful Bulldog squad, falling 7-2 to conclude its season ranked No. 2 in college squash.

“We knew they would be tough,” co-captain Lindsey Wilkins said of Yale. “They’re really a phenomenal team.”

Yale claimed its second-straight season as Ivy, national, and Howe Cup champions.

YALE 7, HARVARD 2

It was a Howe Cup final that was virtually a foregone conclusion ever since the Crimson’s tantalizingly close 5-4 loss to the Bulldogs last week in Cambridge. Yale came away with its No. 1 national ranking intact and its second-straight league crown secured. The Crimson, meanwhile, was left with its only loss of the season and a desire for a Howe Cup rematch.

Harvard got the rematch, but not the upset, as Yale dominated Sunday’s contest to take a 7-2 victory and claim its second consecutive national championship.

“They played really well,” said freshman No. 5 Supriya Balsekar. “I think we were lucky to get it to 5-4, to win four matches [last week]. They came out wanting to win.”

The Crimson never mustered the energy of the week before to take down a focused, aggressive Yale lineup.

Harvard’s only two wins came from Balsekar and sophomore No. 6 Lydia Williams. Baleskar finished her rookie season undefeated in dual match play. She beat Frances Ho 9-0, 6-9, 9-3, 9-2.

“I knew not to underestimate her, but I knew her game from last time,” Balsekar said.

Williams topped Lauren Doline in four games, 9-7, 9-6, 4-9, 9-5.

In the matchup of two of squash’s top players at No. 1, defending Individuals champion Michelle Quibell evened the score against sophomore Kyla Grigg. Grigg, who beat Quibell in five hard-fought games last week, succumbed in four games, 9-3, 8-10, 9-6, 9-3.

The long weekend of tough matches took its toll on the Crimson’s ladder.

“They came in pretty fresh, and we were drained,” Wilkins said.

HARVARD 6, TRINITY 3

It’s hard to believe this is the same Bantams team that the Crimson couldn’t seem to beat for so many years.

Harvard topped third-seeded Trinity 6-3 in the semifinals to reach the defending champion Bulldogs, only the second time the Crimson has beaten the Bantams since 2001.

Since Harvard last won a national championship in that same year, Trinity had essentially owned the Crimson in each and every meeting. That changed earlier this month, when Harvard finally came out ahead of the Bantams 5-4. With the once-unbeatable now vulnerable, the Crimson had the upper hand heading into the semifinals.

“We knew they wanted to get us back,” Balsekar said. “But we had a solid team, we knew that.”

“We were really fired up coming into that match,” Wilkins added.

This time around, the Crimson took advantage of three five-game victories to eke out the win.

Sophomore No. 4 Audrey Duboc took a 2-0 lead over Lauren Polonich, winning the first two games 10-8. 9-4. But Duboc then dropped the next two games 9-3, 9-4, to set up the deciding fifth game. Duboc finally pulled out a 9-4 win to take the match and avenge a three-game defeat to Polonich earlier this season.

Co-captain No. 8 Hilary Thorndike and senior No. 9 Stephanie Hendricks both gutted out five-game wins over their Trinity counterparts, with Thorndike rallying from a two-game deficit to win 7-9, 7-9, 9-7, 9-6, 9-2.

Grigg fell to Trinity’s No. 1 Lynn Leong for the second time this season, 9-1, 9-5, 9-2. Leong has beaten both Grigg and Quibell, and should be the favorite at the CSA Individuals in two weeks.

HARVARD 9, BROWN 0

The Crimson’s first round opponent proved, as expected, to be little challenge for Harvard’s tough ladder.

The Bears, seeded seventh, had already lost to the Crimson 9-0 in Harvard’s season opener back in November. This time around was little different, as the Crimson steamrolled Brown.

Harvard won seven matches by scores of 3-0, and had only two matches go to four games.

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