No. 3 Women's Squash Scores Convincing Victory Over No. 1 Trinity

The streak stayed alive for the Harvard women’s squash team (8-1, 4-1 Ivy), who defeated No. 1 Trinity (12-1) on the Barnaby courts on Wednesday. The team only dropped one game on the day, finishing the match with an 8-1 victory.

The Bantams entered the game that was rescheduled due to weather with an untarnished record—both overall and on the road. The Crimson came into the game with four home wins, with only one game dropped and three 9-0 sweeps.

In its final game at home and third to last of the regular season, the team looked to defend its home and overall record as well as avenge a championship loss to Trinity last season.

“I was definitely really nervous going into it but I also think the team didn’t feel much pressure, especially because they were seeded above us,” freshman Sue Ann Yong said.

It was a race to the win from the beginning, with both sides fighting for every point. Every game except for those at the No. 1, No. 6, and No. 7 spots lasted more than three matches, and a few went more than 11 points.

“Every single one of us played our best this season, because we all went in without too much pressure” sophomore Katherine Tutrone said. “We were just playing free.”

Senior Amanda Sobhy, junior Saumya Karki, and sophomore Dileas MacGowan were the three Crimson players who played just three matches. Karki recorded the first point for the Crimson, winning three close matches against Salma El Defrawy at the No. 6 spot, 11-5, 11-9, 11-8.

The No. 1 spot was a battle of the best players in the country. Sobhy, the top-ranked player, defeated No. 2 Kanzy El Defrawy, 3-0. The first two matches were hard fought, with Sobhy winning by one and two points, respectively, but outlasted her opponent, winning the last match 11-1.

In MacGowan’s match against Natalie Babjukova at the No. 7 position, two of the three matches were pushed to extra points, with the first to 15-13 and the second to 13-11. The last match ended 11-6.

Tutrone and Freshman Alyssa Mehta had the longest matches of the day, both playing to five sets.

“Really just staying in there mentally and hustling throughout the entire game and knowing that every girl in all the other courts are fighting as hard as you are," Yong said. "I think that’s just great in terms of overcoming the nerves.”

At the third position, Mehta was trailing 2-1 by the third match, but came back to win the next two and hand opponent Anna Kimberely her first career loss in a dual-match.

In the only match that the Crimson lost, Tutrone fell in a close 3-2 match at the No. 2 position. Initially dropping the first match to Raneem Sharaf, Tutrone took the second, and then the duo alternated victories. Tutrone won the fourth match to push the game into a tiebreaker, but could not top Sharaf, who won 11-8.

Yong, junior Michelle Gemmell, senior Julianne Chu, and junior Isabelle Dowling also contributed key wins for the Crimson in a meeting that saw Harvard battle for every point.

“The score was…definitely decisive and we weren’t sure we would win,” Yong said. I think all of us as individuals really came in strong mentally and really hustling for every point, and I think that was really crucial and that’s what made the huge difference today.”

With this win, Harvard handed Trinity its first loss since exactly a year ago, when the Crimson defeated the Bantams 5-4. The victory provided a crucial confidence boost going into the late stages of the season.

“It’s pretty much to stay the same,” Tutrone added. “We don’t really need to make too many adjustments. I think we just reminded ourselves that we are a lot stronger than we thought we were. It was definitely a big confidence boost, especially going into Nationals.”

—Staff writer Katherine H. Scott can be reached at katherinescott@college.harvard.edu.