After a fairytale start to the season that included a momentous victory over Trinity, the men’s squash team fell back to earth when it was demolished by No. 3 Princeton, 8-1, Saturday. However, the men’s team bounced back and won its Sunday match against No. 10 Penn to finish the weekend with a 12–1 record. The women’s team, meanwhile, defeated both of its opponents — No. 5 Princeton and No. 4 Penn — to remain undefeated and set up a showdown next weekend with No. 1 Harvard.

On Saturday at Princeton, the women’s team won the No. 1, No. 3-5, and No. 7-9 spots to seal the match 7–2. At the No. 1 spot, Millie Tomlinson ’14 defeated her opponent in a hard-fought five sets. Having lost the first set, Tomlinson won the next two, but lost the fourth, only to clinch victory in the final set. At No. 2, Kim Hay ’14 lost her match 3–0. The other loss was at the No. 6 spot Gwen Tilghman ’14, who also lost three straight sets.

However, the men’s team lost 8–1 to Princeton despite several hard-fought matches. Captain Ryan Dowd ’12 went back and forth a full five sets with his opponent at the No. 5 spot, but lost the final set. Robert Berner ’12 at No. 7 took an early 2–0 lead, but his opponent gained momentum and took the next three sets for the win. The only match won was at No. 9 with Joseph Roberts ’15, who swept the first three sets. Roberts was called up into the lineup this weekend in the important game against Princeton.

“It was sad to see the team lose,” Roberts said. “We are just trying to get back on track now and be ready for Nationals in two weeks.”

No. 2 player Hywel Robinson ‘14 added that while the loss was a huge disappointment, it is important for the team to move on and make sure the rest of the season goes smoothly.

Getting back on track from Saturday’s 1–8 defeat, the Elis defeated the No. 10 Quakers 8–1 on Sunday. Kenneth Chan ’13 lost his match at No. 1, but the rest of the matches were one-sided in Yale’s favor. In spots 3–7, the Elis all won 3–0.

The women’s match against Penn was much closer. In the first round of matches, Tilghman won 3–0 at No. 6, but Issey Norman-Ross ’15 lost hers, in a drawn-out 5-set affair. Captain Rhetta Nadas ’12 helped the Elis take the lead by winning her 5-set match at No. 3. In the second round, the women’s team took wins at No. 2 and No. 8, but lost at No. 5. Despite having a 4–2 lead going into the final round of matches, the Quakers won at the No. 7 and No. 4 spot, tying the overall score. However, Tomlinson, who is also the defending national champion, swept her No. 1 spot match 3–0 and won the overall match for the Elis 5–4.

Women’s squash team member Charlotte Dillon ’14 said that both matches were exciting, with Sunday’s match particularly close.

The Elis will face Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H., next Friday, and Harvard at home on Sunday.