Squash Clinches Share of Title With Sweep

A second straight weekend of back-to-back ranked opponents? No problem.

The Harvard women’s squash team (8-0, 5-0 Ivy) had a full weekend slate at the Barnaby Courts, but the top-ranked squad emerged as the only undefeated team in the Ivy League. The team hosted No. 3 Penn (11-2, 5-1) and No. 4 Princeton (6-3, 4-2) over the weekend, a two-day span that was significant on many levels.

After beating the Quakers, 8-1, and the Tigers, 6-3, the Crimson is now in position to claim sole possession of the Ivy League title next weekend against Yale and boasts the top-ranked player in the country in freshman Laura Gemmell.

“The Princeton women, today was the first time that they have played with full strength,” Harvard coach Satinder Bajwa said. “So our result speaks volumes about how well our team is doing. We are still working towards our full strength and we played the strongest Princeton team that anybody has played all season. The women will go to win the Ivy League title outright.”

HARVARD 6, PRINCETON 3

Coming into the matchup with the Tigers, the Crimson knew that it was going to be anything but easy. It was the first time all season that Harvard didn’t win by at least seven matches, but the encounter had sentimental value as well.

“[Sunday] is a big match for me because we lost to Princeton last year,” sophomore Nirasha Guruge said, referring to last year’s championship loss. “Harvard has just been losing to Princeton over the past years and it’s a big game for everyone who was there last year. It’s our chance to get back at them for beating us.”

Guruge held up her end of the bargain, keeping her opponent at bay to win, 11-4, 11-9, 11-8. Freshman Natasha Kingshott continued her solid play this season with a 3-1 victory over the Tigers’ Neha Kumar. Co-captain Johanna Snyder won her match at the No. 7 spot, but her counterpart didn’t have the same luck.

At the No. 6 position, co-captain Katherine O’Donnell couldn’t turn the tide twice, losing the first of two highly-contested games by scores of 12-10. Princeton’s Kaitlin Sennett finished the bout with an 11-8 win. It was a disappointment for O’Donnell on Senior Day, marking the last game at the Barnaby Courts for the two talented captains and classmate Sandra Mumanachit.

The Crimson also suffered losses at the No. 3 and 4 positions. Junior June Tiong tried to fight back in the third game but couldn’t overcome the Tigers’ Jackie Moss, losing her match, 11-6, 11-8, 12-10. Princeton’s Emery Maine also looked sharp as she defeated junior Alisha Mashruwala in a sweep, 11-8, 12-10, 11-7.

HARVARD 8, PENN 1

Against Penn, Guruge took center court as she sought to avoid playing a five-set match for the second Saturday in a row. She faced the Quakers’ Nabilla Ariffin in what started out as a close matchup. Guruge set up a 9-6 lead, but Ariffin did not let up easily.

With the game tied at nine, Guruge kept her cool and smashed home a hit to end the first game, 11-9. The second game was also close, but Guruge still emerged victorious, 11-8. In the end, Ariffin just didn’t have enough in the tank to keep up with a resilient Guruge, as the Penn No. 2 player fell in the final game, 11-1.

While Guruge’s match was taking place, freshman Sarah Mumanachit faced the Quakers’ Christina Matthias in a match that could have gone either way. Mumanachit had to battle her way through the first two games, winning each by a score of 11-9, before taking part in a tough third game.

The two players kept trading shots before Mumanachit built up a 10-7 lead, positioning herself for a comfortable win. But Matthias gained an edge, winning three points in a row to send the game to extra points. More mistakes followed, setting up a 12-12 draw, but Mumanachit gathered her energy to finally close out the game, 14-12.

No. 1 Gemmell solidified her status as the top player in the country after defeating last year’s Ivy League Player of the Year Kristen Lange in three games, 11-3, 11-9, 11-7. The hard-hitting Lange fell rather easily in the first game but kept up with Gemmell in the second.

The freshman prodigy showed the crowd what the hype was all about and kept her cool in the third game, closing out the day for the Crimson.

—Staff writer Brian A. Campos can be reached at bcampos@fas.harvard.edu.