The men’s and women’s squash teams faltered this weekend against Ivy League competition. On the women’s side, No. 4 Princeton snapped the No. 10 Bears’ six-match winning streak with a 9-0 sweep Saturday, though the team rebounded later that day to upset No. 7 Stanford University with a 5-4 victory. The women finished their weekend with a 9-0 loss to No. 3 Penn Sunday.
The No. 19 men faced a similar struggle over the weekend, falling to No. 7 Princeton 9-0 and No. 10 Penn 8-1.
Women’s squash (10-4, 0-4 Ivy)
Princeton (6-3, 2-3), the 2013 Ivy League champion, dropped few points on its way to victory Saturday, outscoring the Bears in all 27 individual games.
After the loss, Bruno went right into non-conference play against Stanford (4-6). “It was good for us, because we were warmed up to the Princeton courts,” said captain Dori Rahbar ’14, a former Herald contributing writer.
“We went in prepared to fight,” said co-captain Sarah Domenick ’14. “This was the first time we have had a really good chance.”
The Bears’ five wins came from positions five through nine. “We had the bottom of the ladder carrying the team. Our skills don’t drop off as we go lower down the ladder,” Rahbar said.
In the eighth spot, Skylar Murphy ’16 won her match in five games after winning the first two. But Hannah Hay-Smith ’17 had a tough five-game match, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to fall in the fifth. “Everyone was playing pretty consistently,” Rahbar said. “We played very solid squash.”
The match score was tied at three with three matches left when Mina Shakarshy ’15 and Katherine Elliott-Moskwa ’15 clinched the match for the Bears in three and four games, respectively.
The captains “were proud of the team for taking the opportunity,” said Domenick, who had her first weekend of competition since being sick. “It was frustrating not being able to play (before). I was excited to help the team out this weekend.”
The following day, the Bears suffered a 9-0 loss to the Quakers (8-2, 4-1). This match proved to be closer than Bruno’s other Ivy match, as Shakarshy, Isabel Scherl ’15 and Meredith Schmidt-Fellner ’14 tallied a single game in each of their matches against Penn.
Men’s squash (4-11, 0-4)
Princeton (4-6, 2-3) proved an overwhelming matchup for the men’s team, downing Bruno 9-0. “We had lots of close scores and long rallies, but they’re a bit stronger than us,” said Foster Hoff ’16.
Oliver Booth ’16 and Hoff were the only players who were able to take games from the Tigers. “I played well, and I think the team played hard and well,” Hoff said.
The next day the Bears dropped an 8-1 match to Penn (7-3, 3-2). “We got much more fired up before the match, and we came out more aggressively,” Hoff said.
This matchup was more promising, with “all-around closer matches,” Hoff said. Co-captain Blake Reinson ’14 led the Bears with an 8-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 victory from the top spot. But Hoff suffered a tough five-game loss from the fourth spot, losing 11-1 in the fifth game.
Both Bruno teams return to action against Yale at the Pizzitola Sports Center today.
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