Season Recap: National Championship Appearance Highlights Successful Campaign for Crimson
Five All-Americans, the Ivy League Rookie of the Year and a
highly-successful dual season that ended ever-so-close to a
national championship highlighted the women's squash team's 2008-09
campaign. The Crimson, which debuted at No. 4 in the nation in
early December, finished the year No. 2 and saw four players make
the top 16 at the CSA Individual Championships.
The Season
Harvard began the year in dominating fashion on its home court, as
the team defeated Brown Nov. 21, Williams Nov. 23, and No. 8
Dartmouth Dec. 3 by 9-0 scores. Harvard not only swept all 27
individual matches, but the Crimson failed to drop a single game.
On 12 different occasions during those three matches, Crimson
players outscored their opponents 27-3 or less.
Harvard rode that momentum into a pair of road matches, capturing
an 8-1 win at No. 7 Cornell Dec. 6, before taking a long break and
taking an 8-1 decision at No. 6 Stanford Jan. 23. Harvard again
dominated play, as all eight wins against the Big Red were 3-0
victories, while two players had to work an extra set against the
Cardinal before coming away with 3-1 wins. Stanford's only win on
the day came as a result of a forfeit due to injury.
Harvard returned to Barnaby Courts Feb. 4 against No. 3 Trinity,
and the team did not disappoint, as the Crimson earned a 7-2
victory. The Bantams captured wins at the No. 1 and 8 positions,
but Harvard's talent proved too tough that afternoon.
The Crimson then faced the most difficult part of its schedule the
following weekend, as No. 3 Harvard faced No. 2 Penn and No. 1
Princeton in back-to-back matches Feb. 7 and 8. The Quakers
captured a win at the No. 1 slot, but Harvard won seven of the
other eight to earn the 7-2 victory. With a 7-0 record after that
win, Harvard looked prime to take the No. 1 ranking from Princeton
the next day, but a close contest that saw five matches go to five
sets ended with a Tiger victory, 5-4.
Harvard rebounded three days later at home against No. 5 Yale on
Feb. 11, as the Crimson came out on top, 6-3, with two of the three
losses coming in five sets. Despite playing four matches within an
eight-day span, the Crimson had no time for rest, as the CSA
National Team Championships awaited Harvard Feb. 13. Harvard, the
host institution, was looking for a second date with Princeton in
what would potentially be the national championship match.
Before then, Harvard had to get past Stanford in the first round,
which the Crimson did, 8-1, including five sweeps. Harvard faced
Penn in the semifinal round Feb. 14, and although the Quakers
captured the top two spots, Harvard again was too much as the
Crimson won, 7-2. In front of a packed house at Barnaby Courts, it
was No. 1 Princeton against No. 2 Harvard, with the Tigers looking
for their 17th national title and third in a row, while the Crimson
was looking to dethrone Princeton and capture its 13th title.
Princeton jumped out early with a 3-0 win at No. 3, but Harvard
answered when sophomore Bethan Williams captured a 3-1 win at No.
6. Princeton went ahead with victories at No. 2 and No. 9, but
junior Katherine O'Donnell captured a hard fought, 3-2, win at No.
5 to cut the deficit to 3-2. The Tigers grabbed the No. 8 spot to
push themselves closer to victory, and then rallied at the No. 1
spot for their fifth match win of the afternoon. Harvard closed out
the contest as junior Johanna Snyder won at No. 7 and sophomore
Alisha Mashruwala took spot No. 4 for the final 5-4 margin.
Harvard finished its season at the CSA Individual Championships
Feb. 27-March 1 at Williams, as four players advanced to the second
round and freshman Nirasha Guruge advanced to the quarterfinals of
the Ramsay Cup. O'Donnell, Mashruwala and freshman Emily Park each
fell in the second round, while Guruge, the No. 7 seed, fell to the
No. 2 seed in the quarterfinals. Williams went on to capture the
Ramsay Cup consolation bracket on the third day of play.
The Stats
Williams was one of six players to post double digit wins, as she
went 15-3 overall, and 7-1 at her main No. 6 spot. Mashruwala
collected a 14-3 record throughout the season, including 5-1 at No.
3 and 4-0 at No. 4. O'Donnell went undefeated with a 9-0 record at
No. 5 and finished 12-3 overall. Snyder compiled a 7-1 at No. 7 and
went 11-3 overall.
Park, at 10-4 overall and 5-0 at No. 4, and Guruge, at 10-5 overall
and 6-1 at No. 2, were the other two players to post 10 or more
wins. The Crimson also got significant contributions from sophomore
Alexandra Zindman (9-3), junior Sandra Mumanachit (8-2) and
freshman Cece Cortes (6-2).
Harvard players combined to go 100-38 during the 2008-09
season.
The Awards
Guruge was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, the third time
in the past four years a player from Harvard earned the
distinction, while she and Mashruwala earned All-Ivy honors. The
duo also made up two-fifths of Harvard's CSA All-America
selections, as Guruge took home first-team honors and Mashruwala,
Park, Williams and sophomore June Tiong grabbed second-team honors.
Tiong and Mashruwala both were named All-Americans for the second
year in a row.
Looking Forward
With no seniors, three juniors and major contributions from a bunch
of freshmen on the team this past season, the Crimson will aim for
nothing less than a national championship come 2010. After a year
of seasoning and getting a sniff of the national championship, head
coach Satinder Bajwa and his Harvard squad know the future is next
season.