New
Haven CT, Nov 13 2007 - This
past weekend was a first for Ivy League Squash, on
two counts: all eight schools were represented and
we played every match, men and women, on the weekend.
All day and evening on Saturday and throughout the
day on Sunday saw Yale University’s
courts go non-stop for the 2007 Ivy League Scrimmage.
 |
| Saturday
action in New Haven: Cornell's Will Hartigan and Yale's
Todd Ruth .(photos:©2007
Dale Walker) |
The scrimmage is a great weekend for the players and coaches
as there is really nothing at stake other than other than
each individual trying to do their best, and coaches assessing
where their team is relative to the other Ivies. So the opportunity
to meet up with old squash friends and bond a little with
their new team mates seemed to be the order of the day.
The design of the Scrimmage is a fairly
simple one; two eight team draws which play down to each
position, guaranteeing all teams three matches over the
two days. The draws this past weekend were set up based
upon each team’s finish
last season. So Saturday’s first match-ups had Penn/Brown
and Harvard/Cornell on the women’s side while Harvard/Brown
and Cornell/Yale men locked horns. The other half of the
draw kicked off at 1pm and the seedings paired the top ranked
Princeton men and women against the impending varsity team
entrys from Columbia. Unfortunately the Columbia men pulled
out and a quickly formed “all-star” team comprised
of the Yale reserves and some visiting team’s #10 took
on the Tigers. The other two 1pm contests matched Dartmouth
men and women with Penn and Yale respectively.
 |
| Colin West
of Harvard against Max Samuels of Yale.(photos:©2007
Dale Walker) |
No surprises in round one and everyone prepared themselves
for a second contest later in the day. The bottom half teams
who played in the morning
hit the courts at 4PM while the top half immediately followed.
On the men’s side, second and third seeds Harvard and
Yale teed it up. There is no question, these two squads will
have a battle this season. They are well matched right down
the line, but it was Harvard who took the opportunity to
play in Sunday’s final. Meanwhile Cornell demonstrated
that they are a much improved team over last year as they
quite convincingly handled the Brown Bears.
 |
Penn's
James Clark versus Ted Newhouse of Dartmouth .(photos:©2007
Dale Walker) |
On the women’s
side Brown was able to get a measure of revenge as they got
by the upstate NY school in the consolation. Penn is showing
the form of a few years ago when they won the national crown.
Their depth was just too much for the Crimson, and they earned
a spot in the final against Princeton who managed to defeat
Yale on the day, but both teams were missing starters so
it really appears that there will be some excellent matches
with the top four this year. In the other woman’s match
Dartmouth moved on past Columbia and then had a very good
tangle with Brown in the final, narrowly getting by 6-3.
 |
Yale women
vs Princeton .(photos:©2007
Dale Walker) |
The women’s final was a barn burner
between the two most southern Ivies. On the day it was Jack
Wyant’s
Quakers who eked out the win, but I’m sure that Gail
Ramsay will have something up her sleeve when they match
up again during the regular season and potentially at the
Howe Cup. The ¾ playoff was equally tight with Yale
squeeking by Harvard 5-4.
With the men there is no question which Ivy team should
prepare itself to end the incredible Trinity streak. The
Tigers were convincing in their wins over Yale and Harvard.
However, on the back side there is no question that when
Power and his Big Green squad host Cornell in January there
will be no holds barred. On Sunday virtually every match
went four or five games with the Ithaca team nailing the
decider.
All in all it was great fun; no doubt early in the season
there were a few sore muscles on Monday. Season starts this
weekend, good luck to everyone! |
