No. 2 Bulldogs Top No. 6 Big Red 6-3 in Close Match
ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 2-ranked Yale women's squash team picked up a win Saturday, topping No. 6 Cornell 6-3 to improve to 4-0 (1-0 Ivy).
In the first spot, No. 2-ranked junior Millie Tomlinson beat No. 9 Danielle Letourneau easily, winning by a final margin of 11-3, 11-6, 11-5.
At No. 2, fellow junior Kim Hay, ranked No. 6, fell to No. 26 Jesse Pacheco in four games. Hay jumped out to an early lead, taking the first game 11-8, but from there Pacheco won out. The second game was a tight 13-11 affair, the third was 11-6, and in the deciding fourth game Pacheco won by 13-11 once again.
In the third spot it was No. 38-ranked sophomore Shihui Mao, who won one of the closest matches of the day against No. 20 Jaime Laird. Mao won the first game 11-8, but Laird came screaming back with an 11-7 win in the second. Mao got back on track 12-10 in a closely contested third game, but dropped the fourth 11-5. Finally, to decide the winner, Mao took the fifth game 12-10.
Abbey Foster topped senior captain Katie Ballaine at No. 4, winning by a score of 13-11, 11-5, 11-9.
At No. 5, No. 24-ranked junior Gwen Tilghman came back from a two game deficit against No. 63 Rachel Au to win in five. The first two games were both close, at 11-9 and 12-10 in favor of Au, but with the match on the line Tilghman surged into gear, taking total control in the 11-4 third game and 11-3 fourth game before allowing the match to get a bit closer in the 11-7 rubber game.
Junior Lilly Fast, ranked No. 40, triumphed over Brynn Daniels in the sixth spot, dropping the first game 11-13 but taking the next three 11-9, 11-6, and 11-6 again to win the match.
At No. 7, sophomore Issey Norman-Ross, ranked No. 41, went up against No. 71 Maggie Remsen. Norman-Ross took the first game 11-7 and the second 11-8, but Remsen grabbed the third 1-6. Norman-Ross, however, had no intentions of letting the match get any closer, and took the fourth game by the commanding score of 11-4 to win the match.
In the No. 8 position, No. 96-ranked sophomore Anna Harrison went to five games in her win over Laura Caty. Harrison took the first two games 11-6, 11-6, but Caty made a statement in winning the third game 11-4. Caty continued her strong play in a close 12-10 win in the fourth, but in the fifth game Harrison was simply too much to handle, winning 11-5.
At No. 9 freshman Annie Ballaine fell to Reut Odinak, the younger sister of Penn's Yarden Odinak, who also plays squash. Odinak jumped out to an early 11-7, 11-9 lead, and although Ballaine took the third game 11-6, she was unable to dig herself all the way out of the hole, falling 13-11 in the fourth.
Finally, freshman Georgia Blatchford won her match in the tenth spot over Olivia Wherry, losing the first game 11-7 but coming back to win 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 in the next three games.
The victory puts the Bulldogs in a tie for first place in the Ivy League, a place they share with No. 1 Harvard (2-0 Ivy) and No. 4 Princeton (1-0 Ivy). Sunday, they will look to improve to 2-0 against No 14. Columbia.
| Cornell University | Rating | Yale University | Rating | Winner's Score | Winner | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1WS | Letourneau,Danielle C | 0.000 | Tomlinson,Millie | 0.000 | 11-3,11-6,11-5 | Yale University | C |
| 2WS | Pacheco,Jesse | 0.000 | Hay,Kimberley | 0.000 | 8-11,13-11,11-6,13-11 | Cornell University | C |
| 3WS | Laird,Jaime M | 0.000 | Mao,Shihui | 0.000 | 11-8,7-11,12-10,5-11,12-10 | Yale University | C |
| 4WS | Foster,Abbey P. | 0.000 | Ballaine,Katie W | 0.000 | 13-11,11-5,11-9 | Cornell University | C |
| 5WS | Au,Rachel KH | 0.000 | Tilghman,Gwendoline C | 0.000 | 9-11,10-12,11-4,11-3,11-7 | Yale University | C |
| 6WS | Daniels,Brynn C. | 0.000 | Fast,Lillian A. | 0.000 | 11-13,11-9,11-6,11-6 | Yale University | C |
| 7WS | Remsen,Maggie | 0.000 | Norman-Ross,Issey | 0.000 | 11-7,11-8,6-11,11-4 | Yale University | C |
| 8WS | Caty,Laura D | 0.000 | Harrison,Anne | 0.000 | 11-6,11-6,4-11,10-12,11-5 | Yale University | C |
| 9WS | Odinak,Reut | 0.000 | Ballaine,Annie Y | 0.000 | 11-7,11-9,6-11,13-11 | Cornell University | C |
| 10WS | Wherry,Olivia D. | 0.000 | Blatchford,Georgia A. | 0.000 | 7-11,11-7,11-6,11-5 | Yale University | C |
Report by Calvin Bohn'14, Yale Sports Publicity
