Women expect to get victories and make it happen on court

By Jorge Castillo
Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Now bring on the Bantams.

The marquee match versus Trinity may not be until Wednesday night, but the women’s squash team showed no signs of overlooking their opponents this weekend. The Bulldogs (8-1, 2-1 Ivy) — who have won three of the last four Howe Cup championships — swept their matches against Cornell (2-5, 0-5), Dartmouth (5-4, 0-2) and Bowdoin (4-8) in dominant fashion, losing a total of only one game.

The men’s squash team whitewashed their Ivy foes, Dartmouth and Cornell, as well as the Bowdoin Polar Bears, at home last weekend.
Jeff White
The men’s squash team whitewashed their Ivy foes, Dartmouth and Cornell, as well as the Bowdoin Polar Bears, at home last weekend.

The Elis scorched the three squads to the tune of a 26-1 score. The only individual loss came against Dartmouth in the back end of Saturday’s doubleheader — and even that matchup proved to be a struggle for the Big Green. After losing the first two games to Maura Doherty, No. 7 Elisabeth Hill ’08 almost mounted an impressive comeback, taking the next two games, 9-1 each, before falling just short in the final game, 9-6.

No. 4 Alia Aziz ’10 was the only other Bulldog to lose a game against the Big Green, going down 8-10 versus Hannah Conant in the second game before finishing her off in the final two games.

Head Coach Dave Talbott said he was happy with the team’s performance — but not at all surprised.

“The women were expected to win the matches,” he explained, “but it’s still good to actually go out and get it done.”

The team’s freshmen — led by No. 2 Logan Greer ’11 and No. 3 Sarah Toomey’ 11 — continued their strong rookie campaigns. Toomey preserved her season-long undefeated streak over the weekend, extending the mark to 27 in a row.

Even with her stellar play thus far this season, Toomey knows there is room for development.

“I think that something I could improve on with my game is staying focused throughout the match and not having good and bad spots,” Toomey said in an e-mail. “Consistency with my play is definitely something I’m working on.”

No. 1 Miranda Ranieri ’08 — the number-one-ranked player in the country — continued her dominance against the best players opposing squads have to offer. She defeated all three No. 1s she faced over the weekend, including Dartmouth’s Ashley Malenchak.

The ladies now have their eyes set on the important match versus Trinity tomorrow night. The Bantams (7-0) will come into New Haven with unblemished team and individual records. Not one player on the team has lost a single game thus far this season in team play, and the team was ranked No. 5 in December in the latest national squash poll.

Four Bantams, led by Lauren Polonich, are in the top 11 of the latest national individual poll, occupying the No. 4, 5, 10 and 11 spots.

“[Wednesday night] is a huge match,” Talbott said. “The Trinity women are not as dominant as the men, but since we’ve already lost to Penn this season, this is an important match for us to get to the national championship.”

The action at the Brady Squash Center will begin Wednesday at 6 p.m.

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