No. 5 Yale Defeats No. 4 Princeton 6-3, Will Play In Semifinals Saturday
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The No. 5 Yale Bulldogs beat the No. 4 Princeton Tigers 6-3 in the opening round of Friday’s Howe Cup tournament at the Brady Squash Center.
The Bulldogs avenged their 5-4 loss to the Tigers on Jan. 30 by winning close matches up and down the ladder. Yale got off to a quick start in the first of the match’s three shifts, taking a 3-0 lead behind a 3-0 win by Sarah Toomey (No. 3) and come-from-behind 3-1 victories by Katie Ballaine (No. 6) and Katie Harrison (No. 9).
In the second shift Princeton turned the tables and evened the match at 3-all. Alia Aziz nearly edged out the win at No. 2, dropping the decisive fifth game 12-10 after losing a 2-1 lead to Princeton’s Julie Cerullo. Princeton’s Neha Kumar and Katherine Giovinazzo each earned 3-0 victories, topping Bulldogs Alexandra Van Arkel and Aly Kerr at the No. 5 and No. 8 positions, respectively.
Win the match tied 3-3, the Bulldogs took control once again in the third shift, winning all three matches and securing a semifinal berth. No. 1 Logan Greer won a 3-0 match against Princeton’s Amanda Siebert, while both Rhetta Nadas (No. 4) and Caroline Reigeluth (No. 7) won 3-1 after dropping the first game of their respective matches.
The Bulldogs’ win advances the team to the first of Saturday’s national semifinals, where they will play the No. 1 Harvard Crimson. The Crimson defeated No. 8 Williams 9-0 on Friday in opening round play. In Yale’s final regular-season match, the Crimson topped the Bulldogs 7-2.
Saturday’s match will take place at 11:30 a.m. at Yale’s Brady Squash Center. The Bulldogs will look to use their momentum and home-court advantage to upset the nation’s top team.
| Yale | Princeton | Winner's Score | Winner | |
| 1WS | Greer,Logan | Siebert,Amanda | 11-2,11-5,12-10 | Yale |
| 2WS | Aziz,Alia | Cerullo,Julie | 11-7,5-11,9-11,11-9,12-10 | Princeton |
| 3WS | Toomey,Sarah | Moss,Jackie | 12-10,11-9,15-13 | Yale |
| 4WS | Nadas,Rhetta | Maine,Emery | 7-11,11-7,12-10,11-7 | Yale |
| 5WS | Van Arkel,Alexandra | Kumar,Neha | 11-3,11-6,11-6 | Princeton |
| 6WS | Ballaine,Katie | Sennatt,Kaitlin | 6-11,14-12,11-5,11-8 | Yale |
| 7WS | Reigeluth,Caroline | Sequeira,Nikki | 7-11,11-5,14-12,11-5 | Yale |
| 8WS | Kerr,Aly | Giovinazzo,Katherine | 11-5,11-9,11-5 | Princeton |
| 9WS | Harrison,Katie | Cortes,Casey | 11-8,11-9,9-11,12-10 | Yale |
| 10WS | Brown,Carolyn | Yu,Vanessa | 7-11,11-2,11-5,11-5 | Princeton |
report filed by Alex Milvae '12, Yale Sports Publicity