W. Squash Forced To Settle for Second in Nation

If the hierarchy in women’s collegiate squash were like boxing’s lighter weight divisions, then Harvard would certainly have weighed in a class above the rest of the Ivy League and the likes of Williams and Amherst. Still, the Crimson would have been a flyweight, as it never quite could pack on that last pound—or capture that last point—and always found itself just below the Bantams.

Only a 5-4 road setback to Trinity on Feb. 2 and a heartbreaking one-point loss to the Bantams in the Howe Cup final prevented Harvard from successfully defending its 2000-01 national championship with a perfect record.

Even before the season, everyone involved—pundits and players alike—had predicted that the campaign would be a two-team race.

“[We knew] we had Trinity looming over our heads the entire winter,” co-captain Margaret Elias said.

“The season so clearly built up to the matches against Trinity,” added sophomore Louisa Hall.

The Crimson sailed through its first four tests of the season, dropping only three matches against Brown, Cornell, Williams and Dartmouth.

But in Hartford, Harvard fell to the Bantams despite a dominating win at No. 4 by senior Carlin Wing, a 3-0 upset of then-fifth-ranked Pam Saunders by freshman Lindsey Wilkins at No. 3 and a clutch, come-from-behind victory by co-captain Colby Hall at No. 5 that kept the Crimson in the match.

But Harvard recovered well, sweeping both Penn and Princeton at home to regain momentum entering the Howe Cup, the women’s squash national championship tournament, at Yale.

In New Haven, the Crimson breezed through the first two rounds, qualifying for the final without dropping a game to either Williams or the hosts.

Meanwhile, Trinity swept Cornell but suffered a slight hiccup in the semifinals, beating Princeton 7-2 to set up the long-awaited rematch.

The match began with Wilkins taking a hotly contested upset victory over Saunders at No. 3.

Next door, junior Ella Witcher and Clare Austin were tied after four back-and-forth games, but Austin came out on top in the deciding game by the narrowest of margins, 10-9, to win the epic battle.

Sophomore Kristin Wadhwa fell in straight games at No. 9, leaving Harvard trailing, 2-1, entering the second slate of matches.

Elias jumped out to an early 4-2 lead over intercollegiate No. 2 Lynn Leong, but Leong woke up and handily closed out Elias, 9-5, 9-1, 9-2.

Meanwhile, Colby Hall and freshman Hillary Thorndike won decisively at No. 5 and No. 8, respectively, to even the match.

As the final three players from each school took the court, Louisa Hall, Colby’s sister, faced national No. 1 Amina Helal, who had conceded only five points to the younger Hall when the two met just two weeks earlier. But Hall executed brilliantly in taking her first-ever game from Helal, 9-3.

But when news of freshman Stephanie Hendricks’ loss at No. 7 reached Hall, the pressure began to mount. Hall knew she had to win to preserve the Crimson’s hopes of a national title, but Helal simply proved too commanding, taking the next three games.

Wing heard about Harvard’s loss after taking the first game at No. 4, causing her to lose focus and drop the second, 10-8. But she channeled her anger and didn’t drop another point en route to winning her match.

“It doesn’t say much about you as a team or as a player if you don’t show them how close it really was,” Wing said following the match.

The entire Crimson team showed its character only three days later, when it recovered from the heartbreaking loss by dominating Yale, 8-1, to take the Ivy title. Hendricks in particular exemplified the toughness of the entire team, battling through the pain of a stress fracture in her ankle to take a five-game victory.

After the Yale match, the season took on a more individual focus, but even at the ISA Individual Championships, Trinity haunted Harvard. Five of the six Crimson women competing lost to Bantams to end their seasons, including Wilkins and Louisa Hall, who fell to Leong in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. Elias also reached the quarters before succumbing.

Following the season, Louisa Hall, Elias, Wilkins and Wing—who finished the year at Nos. 3, 5, 7 and 10, respectively—earned both First Team WISA All-American and First Team All-Ivy honors. It was Elias’ fourth consecutive year on the latter squad, making her the eighth Harvard player to accomplish the feat. Louisa Hall also garnered Ivy Player of the Year honors, while Wilkins succeeded her as Ivy Rookie of the Year. Colby Hall was also named a Second Team WISA All-American by virtue of her final No. 16 ranking.

Wilkins, Wing, the elder Hall and Thorndike, who was No. 34 in the final rankings, all went undefeated throughout the season.

“Colby and Carlin were our rocks,” Elias said. “They both played with consistency and confidence. There was a certain feeling of calm and assurance that I think the team experienced every time they walked on court.”

While Elias, Wing and Colby Hall graduate, having Wilkins and Thorndike, as well as the younger Hall, return should help the Crimson compensate for the loss of its three stalwart seniors.

“I am amazed every time I get on court with [Louisa], at her intuitiveness, skill and ridiculous ability of getting every drop and being able to fight to the next one,” Elias said.

“Linds has played out of her head this year, the way she fought against Pam Saunders in both Trinity matches,” Elias added. “She certainly proved that she didn’t have the freshman jitters in high pressure situations.”

“Everybody’s going to have to step up, but I think that Lindsey, with a year of college experience, is going to be really great,” added Louisa Hall, who, along with Witcher, will serve as co-captain of a young team next year. “Once you have a year under your belt, you gain perspective and the ability to balance schoolwork and squash. I’m really excited to see how all the freshmen improve.”

The rest of the squash world is, too. In fact, it can’t wait for the next round of the ongoing Harvard-Trinity bout, in which neither team looks like it will record a TKO anytime in the foreseeable future.

WOMEN'S SQUASH

RECORD 9-2 (6-0 Ivy, 1st place)

COACH Satinder Bajwa

Captains Margaret Elias, Colby Hall

Highlights 5-4 losses to Trinity are only blemishes to Crimson’s record. Hall, Elias, sophomore Louisa Hall and freshman Lindsay Wilkins earn First Team All-American honors. Elias and Wilkina reach the national quarters, and Hall makes the semis.