After losses to archrival Harvard at home, the men’s and women’s squash teams finished their Ivy seasons with victories against Dartmouth yesterday.
The Yale men (14–2, 6–1 Ivy) fell 6–3 to Harvard on Friday, and the Yale women (15–3, 5–2) lost 7–2. At Dartmouth, the women swept, and the men won 7–2. In the final Ivy League standings, the men are second to Harvard and the women are third behind Harvard and Penn.
“Harvard was definitely a disappointment for us,” captain Lilly Fast ’14 said. “But it will hopefully push us these next two weeks to work even harder before nationals.”
Fast commended freshmen Shiyuan Mao ’17 and Jenny Scherl ’17 for coming up with Yale’s two wins against Harvard.
Mao and Scherl both swept their Crimson opponents 3–0 and, according to Fast, had standout performances.
Kim Hay ’14 and Issey Norman-Ross ’15 narrowly lost at the second and fourth spots, respectively. Both women pushed their opponents to five-game matches.
Scherl said she felt the pressure to win as she was playing in the second wave of matches after watching three teammates fall to Harvard players.
“I knew I was facing a player who had beaten me in the past,” Scherl said. “But the team needed me to step up and put the self-doubt behind me. I was thinking about how many hours our team dedicated to the season and focused on what an honor it is to be playing for this team.”
The freshmen were key players against Harvard on the men’s team as well. TJ Dembinski ’17, Kah Wah Cheong ’17 and Liam McClintock ’17 picked up Yale’s three wins on Friday at the fourth, fifth and sixth spots.
McClintock’s match advanced to five games when his opponent came out of a 2–0 deficit. He won the final game after the second match point.
“As the match unfolded, I got very tired,” McClintock said. “I’m sure my opponent was feeling the long rallies too. But the home crowd pulled me through the match.”
Men’s and women’s captains Eric Caine ’14 and Fast agreed the Harvard teams played with skill and power, enough to beat the Yale teams. Both captains are also eager for the chance to meet the Crimson again at the national championships.
Scherl said both teams would be rethinking strategies in preparation for their next meetings with Harvard.
“The score did not reflect our dedication at all,” she said.
Caine is confident he and his team can match their level of play to Harvard’s and even beat them at nationals.
Fast and Caine were both pleased to end their seasons in triumph with the wins up at Dartmouth.
“We played well and have regained our momentum going into next weekend,” Caine said.
The men will begin CSA Team Championships at Harvard on Feb. 14. The women will play in the Howe Cup at Princeton, starting Feb. 21.