No. 2 women’s squash reigns victorious over No. 4 Yale, Brown

No. 2 Princeton women’s squash recorded two wins at home last weekend against no. 4 Yale and Brown, granting them an overall record of 9–1 and an Ivy League record of 4–1.

The weekend started off in Jadwin Gym with a match against Yale in which Princeton clinched the win with a score of 6–3. On the next day, the Tigers returned to Jadwin Gym to sweep Brown’s squad, winning 9–0. Head Coach Gail Ramsay described that a key highlight of the weekend was the match against Yale, currently ranked fourth in the country, according to the College Squash Association’s College Squash Rankings.

Many of the Princeton women had strong performances in the game. Ramsay cited sophomore Emily Rose’s aggressive and consistent performance, which helped her win her match against Yale’s No. 7. First-year Caroline Spahr also made a significant impact, winning against Yale’s No. 4 after a tough loss against Penn.

Ramsay also added that “Leonard at 3 came off a week of the flu and somehow won the match over Yale No. 3.” After missing the match against Penn the previous weekend due to illness, junior Emme Leonard said that she put in an immense effort to prepare herself for the matches against Yale and had help from her teammates as well.

“Recovering from the flu takes time, but I tried to speed up my recovery by drinking lots of fluids and eating properly,” Leonard said. “Luckily, I had my amazing teammates to drop me off food and I tried to rest as long as I could before Yale.”

On the day of the Yale match, Leonard got the energy she needed to win her match.

“On the day of the game, I felt more like myself, but I honestly think it was the adrenaline that helped me play so well,” she said. “Yale is a very tough team to play, but I knew I had to be smart on court and move as efficiently as possible in order to conserve my energy. I remained focused throughout the match and I was super happy with my performance overall.”

Currently, the Tigers have only lost to Harvard, which happens to be ranked first in the country. Princeton is ranked right behind Harvard at the number two spot. This is an improvement for the Tigers.

“We jumped to number two in the rankings above of Trinity,” Ramsay said, “but they are a good team and we are looking forward to playing them on the 15th at home.”

Before facing Trinity, the Tigers will finish off their Ivy League matches this weekend, playing against No. 11 Cornell and No. 6 Columbia.

“This weekend will be a test to see if we are going to stay on track,” Ramsay said. “Cornell will be home and Columbia away — we hope to play well and compete hard, and if we do that we should be in good shape”.