The women’s squash team earned its ninth 9–0 win of the season after easily defeating No. 10 Brown on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the No. 2 Bulldogs (13–0, 5–0 Ivy) continued their dominant, undefeated season and are just one win away from the Ivy League title. The Bulldogs hope to get that win against an undefeated No. 1 Harvard team (7–0, 4–0) next weekend.
The Bears (6–5, 0–3) have yet defeat an Ivy League opponent and currently have not won a single match in Ancient Eight play. Last year, the Elis defeated the Bears 8–1, but the improved Eli squad did not drop a single match this year.
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“The win against Brown brought us one step closer to an Ivy League championship,” captain Logan Greer ’11 said. “Our team is now looking to next weekend when we face Harvard.”
Yale cruised through seven of their matches against the Bears, winning in straight games. However, the No. 9 and No. 6 matches went to four and five games, respectively.
The No. 6 match was a hard fought battle between Katie Harrison ’13 and Brown’s Sophie Scherl.
Harrison got off to a good start and won the first game 11–6. But as the match progressed, Scherl was more agile and made better shot selections to take the second and third games.
In the fourth game, the two players traded points back and forth until the final points. Harrison finally broke through her opponent’s defenses and took the game 16–14.
There was no let up from either player in the deciding game. Both players continued to battle, but Harrison proved to be strong under pressure and took the game, 11–9, and match.
Greer said that the Bulldog’s will need to play with the same intensity as Harrison did on Saturday next week if they want to win the Ivy League title
“In order to beat Harvard, we need to be mentally tough,” Greer said.
The team’s freshmen, including standout Millie Tomlinson ’14, did not play and rested for the team’s upcoming contest against Harvard.
Greer said that the freshmen will be essential for the Bulldogs against the Crimson next week.
“They [have] responded well,” Greer said. “They have been tested and challenged all season, and are well prepared for the pressure they will face next Saturday.”
For the Yale seniors, it was their last home match of their careers and players noted the special occasion for the team.
“It was really nice for it to be at home and for all of our families to be at home,” Caroline Reigeluth ’11 said. “It was nice to have that time to spend with each other.”
Yale will travel to the Harvard courts on Saturday and play against the Crimson will begin at 4 p.m.