CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The top-ranked Harvard women's squash team picked up where it left off in the first semester, using a complete team effort to sweep the Columbia Lions in its return to action this afternoon. The Crimson (3-0, 2-0 Ivy) posted a 9-0 win over the Lions (1-4, 0-1 Ivy) after securing eight 3-0 wins in the nine matches. The win keeps Harvard's perfect record intact heading into another key Ivy contest tomorrow against No. 7 Cornell.
 

How it Happened

The Crimson returned to its home courts at the Murr Center this afternoon to host the Columbia Lions in its first match of the second semester. With Individual National Championships just around the corner, Harvard was looking to carry its strong play over from the first semester.
 
The Crimson took control of the match in the first wave behind a trio of victories. Caroline Fouts secured the first win of the day at ones, posting a 3-0 result while outscoring her opponent 33-4. First-year Dixon Hill picked up her third win of the season with a 3-0 result at sevens. Her classmate, Jomana Ahmed, completed the sweep in the first wave by taking the win at sixes, 3-1.
 
Results kept coming in the second set of matches for the Crimson. Lucie Stefanoni put Harvard in a position to clinch with a quick 3-0 victory at twos. Senior captain Molly Stoltz secured the match win for Harvard at nines, defeating her opponent 3-0. Ona Blasco Puig pushed the score to 6-0 Harvard with another sweep at fives.
 
Saran Nghiem, Sarita Popat and Ocean Ma completed the Crimson sweep with three consecutive 3-0 wins at threes, eights and fours, respectively.
 

Final Results

No. 1 Harvard – 9
No. 12 Columbia – 0
1 - Caroline Fouts def. Nourin Khalifa (COL), 3-0 (11-2, 11-2, 11-0)
2 - Lucie Stefanoni def. Yeheni Kuruppu (COL), 3-0 (11-3, 11-4, 11-4)
3 - Saran Nghiem def. Eva Salzman (COL), 3-0 (11-1, 11-4, 11-1)
4 - Ocean Ma def. Kaavya Bansal (COL), 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-7)
5 - Ona Blasco Puig def. Amal Izhar (COL), 3-0 (11-6, 11-3, 11-1)
6 - Jomana Ahmed def. Eugenia Li (COL), 3-1 (11-9, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9)
7 - Dixon Hill def. Charlie Mccrone (COL), 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-4)
8 - Sarita Popat def. Isha Gupta (COL), 3-0 (11-9, 11-4, 11-6)
9 - Molly Stoltz def. Sophia Hu (COL), 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-4)
Order of Finish: 1,7,6, 2, 9, 5, 3, 8, 4
 

Up Next

Harvard will be back on the courts tomorrow afternoon when it welcomes the No. 7 Cornell Big Red to the Murr Center. The match is set to begin at 12:00 PM with all the action streaming live on the Ivy League Streaming Platform.