CLOSE CONTESTS UP AND DOWN THE LADDER [The draw and results]

Across the thirteen courts at the Harvard University Murr Center, the National semifinals drama started first thing in the morning and continued its buildup throughout the day. The story reached a climax in mid afternoon as the tension and pressure evident in the two "A" division semi finals had each of the several thousand spectators riveted to first the Penn - Harvard matchup, a contest which left the Penn Quakers sorely disappointed for a second straight season, and then the Princeton - Trinity showdown, which reached a crescendo with first Princeton's Kaitlin Sennatt and then Trinity's Jo-Ann Jee holding match ball at 9-9 in the fifth game of their critical fourth-position match, before a focused and charged-up Sennatt provided the exclamation point with a shockingly audacious attacking boast from the left side, which caught the highly talented Jee in unbelieving surprise, as she had been conditioned over the fourth and fifth games to a steady diet of Sennatt's severe, hard low drives to the back.

Early in the day, Northeastern University, a club team with a part-time coach, put forward a strong effort against the Conn College team, winning at positions one and four through seven to advance to today's finals in the Epps (D) division, against highly favored William Smith.

Concurrently, in the emerging team division, the big showdown of the weekend was between the newly formed California team, anchored by two strong exchange students from Germany, and the nattily-attired Vermont Catamount five. Vermont was just a little stronger, and despite Cal No. 1 Julia Maier's win, Vermont won the other four to move into a Sunday morning matchup with Boston College which would decide that title.

UPENN SQUANDERS ITS CHANCES

The two teams that proved the best in the nation during the regular season continued their brilliance through the Howe Cup semis Saturday. Harvard defeated Penn Saturday and will take to their home courts Sunday afternoon looking to avenge last weekend's 5-4 loss against a Princeton team that moved to 12-0 with an exceedingly tense semifinal win over Trinity.

Harvard defeated Penn 7-2 in the regular season, a scoreline which was repeated Saturday. Harvard again got off to a quick start, winning 3-0 at the No. 9 and 8 positions. Penn co-captain Alisha Turner looked poised to keep Penn in the thick of things, winning the first and jumping out in front in the second against Emily Park. Park regained her focus, started attacking and cut back on errors to pull herself even. She fell behind again in the third, 8-1, but remained confident and staged another massive comeback. The fourth was all Park, as she won 9-1, putting Harvard up 3-0.

"Going on first on the glass court, there was a lot of pressure to set the tone for the match," Park said. "During the first game I was really nervous. I wasn't playing my game, I was playing hers…Even when it was game ball for her in the third, I was thinking, 'Don't let it go to five. Energy is better spent to win this game.'"

Things continued to go sour for Penn. Annie Madeira lost 3-1 to Bethan Williams after winning the first and having two game balls in the second. Penn's Sydney Scott took the first game against June Tiong, while Harvard was ahead in games at the No. 5 and 7 positions. Scott won to keep her team alive. Down 2-0, Penn's Tara Chawla won the third against Johanna Snyder at No. 7. Playing on adjacent courts, Katherine O'Donnell led Christina Matthias 8-3 and Snyder led 8-7. It took O'Donnell three tries against a determined Matthias, but she closed the door to clinch the match for her team.

"I feel like I was playing well," O'Donnell said. "She was really fighting at the end."
 
"Congratulations to Harvard," Penn head coach Jack Wyant said. "They played great. I'm bitterly disappointed for our players and our school. We had a chance and we didn't take it."

THEY FINALLY MEET - AND PLAY TO A VIRTUAL DRAW

The scheduling mishap which led to Princeton and Trinity not agreeing to a meeting date in the regular season, brought an unusual level of anticipation to the afternoon's semi battle betwen the Tigers and the Bantams.

The first set of matches typified how the afternoon would go. Princeton tri-captain Maggie O'Toole and teammate Katherine Giovinazzo were each pushed to five games before recording the first wins of the match. Tehani Gurguge kept things close, coming back from a game down to defeat Emery Maine in a long four games at No. 3. Jackie Moss defeated Pamela Jiminez to put the Tigers ahead 3-1, but things remained very uncertain for Princeton. Trinity's Emily Paton defeated Nikki Sequeira in three. Tied at a game apiece, Trinity's Nayelly Hernandez led Neha Kumar 7-2 in the third. Kumar changed her mindset and then her game, and routed off seven straight points to take the game and shift the momentum permanently back in her favor.

"I relaxed and tried to play my game again," Kumar said. "I focused on lobbing and dropping, slowing down the pace. She was already at 7-2, so I felt like I had nothing to lose."

Kumar had seen what went on in the matches prior to hers, and knew how critical each match was. When she came off court, teammate Aly Brady was leading Robyn Williams 2-0, and Kaitlin Sennatt was tied up with Jo-Ann Jee. Nour Bahgat continued her perfect freshman season, defeating Amanda Siebert in three to bring the match to 4-3. Williams won the third, and Jee and Sennatt headed into the fifth. By this time, screaming teammates were trying their best to keep apprised of what was happening on each of the two adjacent courts, with their season's hopes hanging on each point. Sennatt raced out to a 6-1 lead. Jee pulled herself to 6-6. They reached 7-7, 8-8 and at 9-9, with Sennatt coming out on top, and keeping her team's hopes of a third consecutive national title alive. Williams went on to win her match.

"I felt more in control in the last game than in the two I dropped," Sennatt said. "I tried to slow it down a bit, and start every point fresh, as if it was 0-0."

Ramsay said Sennatt consistently handles the pressure of the big matches well, with Saturday being yet another example.

"She really made a positive adjustment in her tactics, really simply controlling the T" Princeton head coach Gail Ramsay said. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for Jee. She was a hard-fighting, smart, tremendous competitor and a great sport."

Ramsay and Harvard head coach, Satinder Bajwa, expressed similar sentiments regarding the final: They expect it to be close and feel their team can win it if they go out and play their very best.

OTHER HOWE DIVISION PLAY

Williams and Yale started out the day, with Yale winning 8-1. Williams' No. 1, Toby Eyre, who bested Princeton's Amanda Siebert Friday, added another great win to her Howe Cup run, defeating Logan Greer in four.

Cornell defeated Stanford 6-3. The match started the same way as their last, with Cornell winning the first set to put them up 3-0. Leah Stork won at 8 for Stanford, and Katie Brewster came back from a 2-0 deficit before Shivangi Paranjpe won the fifth to give her team a commanding 4-1 lead. The win was an improvement for Paranjpe, who lost to Brewster 3-0 last time they played. Cornell captain Alex Cornett clinched the win for her team, defeating Katie Corelli in five.

"They all stepped up and pulled out their best game," Cornell head coach Julee DeVoy said.

Cornell will play Yale in the 5/6 match, while Stanford and Williams will contend for seventh place.

 

 

 

	Enter your search terms Submit search form
	Web www.squashtalk.com