HARVARD SQUASH REFLECTS ON AN AMAZING IVY STREAK: 16 of last 17 men's Ivy crowns, 45 of last 46 women's Ivy matches.

by Paul McNeeley, Assistant Director of Sports Media Relations

February 17, 2000 CAMBRIDGE, MA.

by Paul McNeeley, Assistant Director of Sports Media Relations
(also appears in Harvard Varsity Club's News & Views newsletter/Feb. 17, 2000)

It was a run so amazing that it needs to be put into perspective.

Since Ivy League women's squash championships began in 1982-83, Harvard had claimed either the men's or women's Ivy title every season heading into this year. In fact, 11 times during the 17-year span, the Crimson squash teams reigned supreme in the Ivy League for both the men's and women's divisions.

Following a pair of heartbreaking 5-4 losses to visiting Princeton at the Barnaby Courts at the Murr Center this past Sunday, the reign has ended.

The Harvard men's and women's squash teams will not win an Ivy League title this winter, but that does not mean there is nothing left to play for.

"There is a lot of good spirit among our players," said first-year coach Satinder Bajwa. "That's because the national team championships in the coming weeks present an opportunity for us to have another go at our rivals, and we have learned from our losses. The recent setbacks have been real character builders, and we are stronger because of them."

The Harvard men's team now owns an 11-2 overall record and a 4-1 league mark. They travel to Yale for their last regular season dual match on Feb. 23, and then return to New Haven two days later for the NISRA Team Championships.

The Crimson women are 6-3 overall and 3-2 in Ivy League play, as they head into the WISA Team Championships at Yale on Feb. 18 before finishing their regular season against the Elis on Feb. 23.

There was some great squash at the Murr Center this past weekend, but it did not turn out the way the Crimson faithful had hoped.

Things started well for the men on Saturday, as Harvard cruised past Pennsylvania, 9-0, dropping just two games in the process. Eight of the nine Crimson players won in three-game sweeps.
On Sunday against the Tigers-the match that would determine this year's Ivy League men's team champion-Harvard started strong by winning the first game in six of the nine matches. And in two of the three matches in which it didn't win the first game, the Crimson bounced back to win game two.

However, Princeton battled and the overall match score was knotted at 4-4, with the result at No. 1 left to determine the outcome. And they don't come much bigger than this one, as Tigers senior co-captain Peter Yik battled Crimson senior co-captain Tim Wyant (Cincinnati, OH). The two squared off for the individual national championship last winter, with Yik coming out a 3-1 victor.

In the rematch, Wyant brought the packed house at the Murr Center to its feet by taking game one, 15-9, only to see Yik storm back to claim games two and three, 15-5 and 15-8. In game four, Wyant had game ball, with a decisive game five to settle the score ever so close. But Yik proved he had the heart of a champion-the nerves, too-as he battled to a 17-14 victory in the tie-breaker to take the match.

The loss halted Harvard's winning streak in Ivy League dual matches at 58, which is a league record. Before Sunday, the last time the Harvard men had lost in regular-season Ivy play was in 1990 at Yale. The last time the Crimson men had lost one at home was 1982 (also to the Tigers).

Princeton (8-0 overall, 6-0 Ivy) earns its first Ivy men's title since sharing it with Harvard and Yale in 1988-89. The Crimson had won nine straight league crowns and 16 of the last 17.

The Harvard men's team has three players regularly in the top nine who are still undefeated this winter, as junior Shondip Ghosh (Bombay, India) is 12-0, junior Andrew Merrill (Short Hills, NJ) is 10-0, and senior co-captain Eric Lauer (Chatham, NJ) is 9-0. Wyant is now 5-2.

On the women's side, Harvard fell to Ivy champion Pennsylvania, 6-3, on Saturday before being edged by Princeton on Sunday. It marks the first time in history that the Crimson women have dropped back-to-back Ivy matches. Prior to the weekend, Harvard's women's squad had lost just once in its previous 46 Ivy matches.

This past weekend, Harvard's foes were just too talented at the top of their lineups, as the Crimson dropped the top five matches both days. Against the Quakers, who have won their first-ever Ivy and regular-season national championships, three Harvard veterans earned wins: junior Virginia Brown (Philadelphia, PA) at No. 6, senior Frances Holland (Philadelphia, PA) at No. 8, and junior Katie Gregory (Greenwich, CT) at No. 9.

The Crimson narrowed the gap the next day vs. the Tigers, but wins at Nos. 6-9 were not enough. Freshman Ella Witcher (Calgary, Alberta) came close to giving Harvard the fifth win it needed, but she could not hold on to a 2-0 lead and fell, 3-2, at No. 4 to Princeton's Liz Kelly.

Holland and Gregory are both 9-0, sharing the top record on the women's team. Brown is 8-1 and freshman Lindsay Coleman (Philadelphia, PA) is 7-1. Sophomore Margaret Elias (Philadelphia, PA) holds a 5-4 record as the team's No. 1, while senior captain Blair Endresen (Rye, NY) is an even 4-4 at No. 5.

For more information, please contact Paul McNeeley at: (617) 495-2206, email mcneeley@fas.harvard.edu