New Haven, CT — Harvard came so close last year. They came within a single match of capturing the National Title, losing 4-5 to Princeton. Today, the Crimson achieved all of their goals and have clinched the 2010 Women’s College Squash Association National Team Championship with a victory over the University of Pennsylvania with several matches left to be played.
Harvard captured their 11th Howe Cup and their second under head coach Satinder Bajwa. The Crimson, who are undefeated this season, also won the Ivy League title. With their Howe Cup victory, the squad completes the 2009 – 2010 campaign with a 12 – 0 record. As the team with the best dual match record, Harvard was awarded the Barhite Award.
In the opening round of the tournament, Harvard was dominant and shutout 8th-seeded Williams College. The Crimson did not surrender a single game in the competition. In the semifinals, Harvard faced its Ivy League foe Yale. Behind a home crowd, Yale challenged the Crimson. The Bulldogs captured the first two matches, #2 and #3, on the exhibition court. Harvard only dropped two individual games in the rest of the contest and earned their way into the finals with a 7-2 victory.
Their finals competition, the University of Pennsylvania defeated Cornell 6-3 in the opening round of the tournament. In the semifinals, the Quakers faced the 2nd-ranked Trinity Bantams. During the regular season, the Quakers lost to the Bantams 5-4. This time, Penn beat Trinity. The Quakers and coach Jack Wyant clinched the semifinal contest after six matches; however, Trinity won the final three matches.
The Crimson have three seniors — Sandra Mumanachit, Katherine O’Donnell, and Johanna Snyder — on their talented squad. With their top five players returning next season, it is highly probable that they will be in the hunt to repeat as National Champions next season.
Penn will also be in contention again next season; however, the Quakers will miss their four talented seniors: Kristen Lange, Sydney Scott, Britt Hebden, and Christina Matthias.
Check CollegeSquashAssociation.com throughout the week for results from the other divisions as well photos and videos. CollegeSquashAssociation.com will also be covering the Men’s and Women’s Individual Championships, which will be held at Trinity College next weekend, March 5th – 7th.
