In a final tune-up before next week’s all-important Howe Cup at Yale, the Cornell women’s squash team hosted No.1 Trinity on Saturday. Despite strong individual efforts from senior Melinda Lee and freshman Joanna Wolfson, the Red failed to win a match in its last home competition of the season, falling 9-0.
Despite the shutout loss, the squashers put the match in perspective and looked to find some positives from the defeat.
Freshman Brooke Stetson praised Trinity’s team and its dominating effort, but was happy with the Red’s performance, saying, “It was our last home game which made it difficult, and they have such a strong team. Nonetheless, we played really well considering their strength. We came out of the match full of spirit, though we were beaten. And we hope to improve our performance next week.”
Stetson’s optimism was shared by her teammates, but head coach Bev Tunnicliffe was disappointed.
“Trinity is just so good and they have so much depth. Overall, it was very disappointing, but we hope to improve our rankings next week at the Howe Cup. Most likely, we will have to face Trinity to open up, so we are looking to see improvement,” said Tunnicliffe.
Though Cornell has struggled this year, it will be included in the top grouping at next week’s Howe Cup. While anything is possible, the Red’s moderate expectations would be fulfilled with a slight improvement from its current No. 8 ranking.
Senior star Olga Puigdemont-Sola has provided Cornell with its best hope for a win in any given match this entire season. She is also the Red’s best hope for an individual national championship.
After the Howe Cup, only the individual championships at Princeton remain later in the month. It will mark Puigdemont-Sola’s final attempt at a national crown.
Archived article by Mark Fetzko