February 18, 2013

SQUASH | Women Place Sixth In Nation For Second Time

Print More

This weekend marked the end of the season for the women’s squash team. The Red finished in sixth place for the second consecutive year at the Howe Cup Championships after a series of close matches.

The sixth seeded Red headed to New Haven last week to face No. 3 Penn in the first round of the tournament. Cornell lost, 8-1, to the Quakers, its only win coming from senior co-captain Jaime Laird. Laird, who won in five against Penn’s Rachael Goh, said the loss served as motivation for the team’s next match.

“We definitely wanted to beat Penn, but the team handled the loss well and it made us more determined to win against Stanford the next day,” Laird said.

The Red then came back to defeat No. 7 Stanford on Saturday in the consolation semi-finals. Laird and senior co-captain Maggie Remsen both won their matches, giving Cornell a 2-1 lead after the first shift.  Sophomore Lindsay Seginson and junior Jesse Pacheco then won their matches at the No. 8 and No. 2 spots, respectively. Finally, freshman Brynn Daniels gave the Red the win with her victory in the No. 7 spot. In the consolation finals on Sunday, the Red suffered a tough 3-6 loss to No. 5 Yale, earning them a sixth-place finish overall.

“Overall, we were happy with how the season turned out. We finished where we were seeded, and that is a positive result,” Laird said.  “I personally am really happy with this season and proud of the team.”

While the team’s season is over, the women will be back on the courts in two weeks at individual championships. In the meantime, the men’s squash team will play in the Potter Cup Championship this weekend at Yale. Fifth-ranked Cornell is looking to top last year’s record setting fourth place finish. Having ended its regular season with three impressive victories, including a 5-4 win over No. 1 Princeton, the team is certainly entering the tournament with strong sentiments of confidence.

“Our expectations are high as we know with have a strong team with a lot of potential,” said senior Arjun Gupta. “Our fourth place finish last year is motivation to do even better this year.”

The first round of play begins Friday when the Red will face the team seeded fourth. Gupta said the team is excited for the matches.

“The team is feeling very confident and we’re really looking forward to the coming weekend,” Gupta said.

Original Author: Katie Schubauer