Sophomores Step Up for Women's Squash

The Harvard women’s squash squad is off to a stellar start this season—it’s currently ranked No. 1 in the nation, and the women have not dropped a single match in their three 9-0 victories against Brown, Stanford, and Williams.

More impressive is the solid string of matches played by the women who, as freshmen last season, saw little varsity action

In her rookie season, sophomore Vidya Rajan hit the squash courts for four matches at the No. 10 position. Despite going 4-0, the Bellevue, Wa. native never made it into one of the top nine positions during the season.

But this year, Rajan has stepped into a steady role in the varsity rotation. In the home opener against Brown, she blanked opponent Sarah Beresford 11-6, 11-4, 11-3 in the No. 8 slot. Against Stanford, she nearly repeated her performance—Cardinal Julie Koenig fell in three sets, earning only 10 points in the entire match. Then, in the same day, Rajan also played at No. 7 in her team’s match against Williams. The sophomore gave her best performance yet, giving up only seven points total in her 3-0 victory over Mia Fry.

In her first year with the Crimson squash program, sophomore Eliza Calihan did not see any varsity play. But Calihan, too, has played some strong squash since the season opener.

Her first varsity match came against Brown in the No. 9 position, and Calihan pulled out an impressive 3-0 win over Antonia Libassi, 11-7, 11-7, 11-3. She continued this winning streak the following Sunday against Stanford and the Ephs. Versus the Cardinal, she again played at No. 9, and the New York native won in straight sets. Then, against Williams, Calihan stepped into the No. 8 spot and again achieved a 3-0 win, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4.

Despite the team’s small size, then, it seems that players from any spot on the bench can get the job done and pull off seemingly flawless, three-set wins en route to another national title.