Big Red Hammered in Ithaca

The No. 4 Harvard Women’s squash team (4-0, 3-0 Ivy) continued its early-season dominance over Ivy League opponents, defeating No. 7 Cornell 8-1 Saturday afternoon in Ithaca, N.Y.

The victory marks the seventh consecutive year that the Crimson has opened the season 4-0. While last season’s squad was recovering from the loss of two of its top players, this year Harvard lost no seniors to graduation and has maintained a strong core from last season.

“I feel really comfortable in our team. A huge base from last year is together and we have built relationships with each other.” said junior captain No. 7 Johanna Snyder. “Last year was more of a rebuilding year since we had lost two of our top players. This year, I think we have a real shot at winning the national championship.”

Sophomore No. 1 June Tiong started the Crimson off fast, taking a convincing 2-0 lead, but had to battle in a back-and-forth final game to take the match 9-3, 9-4, 10-9. With the victory, she improves her record to 4-0 on the season.

No. 2 Nirasha Guruge continued her promising freshman campaign, defeating Jennifer Gemmell 9-4, 9-1, 9-3. Guruge, who has experience playing for the Sri Lankan National team, has made the transition to collegiate squash seamlessly, having won all four of her matches 3-0.

“Collegiate squash is very different than I imagined. Much more intense.” Guruge said of the experience. “It is exciting and I am definitely enjoying it.”

Classmate No. 3 Emily Park suffered Harvard’s first defeat of the season, falling 9-6, 9-6, 9-7 in a close-fought contest.

Sophomore No. 4 Alisha Mashruwala prevailed in a tight first game 9-7 before quickly finishing the Big Red’s Lisa Stokes 9-4, 9-1 to take the 3-0 victory.

The remaining five flights had it comparatively easy.

Junior No. 5 Katherine O’Donnell and sophomore No. 6 Bethan Williams dominated their matches, each winning 3-0 and giving up four points or fewer in each of their games.

Snyder worked around a tight second game to trounce Anne Ritter of Cornell 9-2, 9-7, 9-0.

Sophomore Alexandra Zindman picked up her fourth victory of the season with a 3-0 win.

“We wanted to win decisively, to dominate. I think we did.” Snyder said, saying that the men’s earlier narrow 6-3 defeat to the Big Red had motivated the team.

Junior Sandra Mumanachit continued her solid play at No. 9, defeating Isabella Spyrou 9-2, 9-0, 9-2. Mumanachit, who played anywhere between the sixth and ninth flights last year, has been the Crimson’s most dominant player in the young season. She has won her four matches all by a score of 3-0 and leads the team with seven 9-0 whitewash games.

Crimson coach Satinder Bajwa has emphasized the importance of using these lopsided conference games as opportunities for the players to hone and refine their shots in preparation for the much more challenging matches that await them in early 2009.

Harvard takes an extended break over the Christmas holidays and exam period before beginning a brutal stretch, taking on squash powerhouses No. 3 Trinity, No. 2 Penn, and No. 1 Princeton in early February.

“We are going to be training very hard over the break,” Guruge said. “I think we have a very strong team and are aiming to win the Howe Cup.”

The Crimson next travels to Palo Alto, Calif. to take on Stanford on January 21 at 3 p.m.

—Staff writer Barrett P. Kenny can be reached at bpkenny@fas.harvard.edu.