PRINCETON, N.J. – Harvard women's squash fell in a heartbreaker to Penn, 5-4, in the semifinals of the inaugural Ivy League Tournament.
How it Happened
Despite dropping the first point of the day with a loss at eights, the Crimson led 2-1 after the first wave.
Lucie Stefanoni won 3-1 at twos over Franka Vidovic (Penn). The junior won the opening game 11-2 and Vidovic responded with an 11-6 victory in game two. Stefanoni then put up identical 11-8 wins in the final two games to give Harvard its first point of the day.
Dixon Hill followed with another 3-1 victory at sixes. The two players split the opening two games and then Hill dropped just 10 points in the last two games to defeat Anne Leakey (Penn).
The Quakers tied things up at two-all with a five-game win at ones but Molly Sholtz delivered at nines to give the Crimson the advantage again. The senior rallied after falling in the first two games to defeat Savannah Margot Ingledew (Penn).
Penn then tallied two consecutive points at fours and sevens to pull within a win of clinching the match with two matches outstanding.
Saran Nghiem evened the score to leave fives as the deciding match. The senior won at threes 3-1 over Malak Taha (Penn). The two traded games before Nghiem won the final two sets by only dropping nine total points.
The Quakers ultimately stole the match with a five-game battle at fives.
Results
Harvard – 4,
Penn – 5
- Malak Khafagy (Penn) def. Caroline Fouts, 3-2 (11-7, 5-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-5)
- Lucie Stefanoni def. Franka Vidovic (Penn), 3-1 (11-2, 6-11, 11-8, 11-8)
- Saran Nghiem def. Malak Taha (Penn), 3-1 (11-5, 9-11, 11-4, 11-5)
- Sohaila Ismail (Penn) def. Ocean Ma, 3-2 (10-12, 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6)
- Alexandra Stoddard (Penn) def. Ona Blasco, 3-2 (9-11, 11-9, 11-4, 6-11, 11-6)
- Dixon Hill def. Anne Leakey (Penn), 3-1 (11-7, 10-12, 11-2, 11-8)
- Hailey Shing-Fei Wong (Penn) def. Jomana Shehab, 3-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-1)
- Ashna Tumuluri (Penn) def. Sarita Popat, 3-1 (12-10, 7-11, 11-5, 11-3)
- Molly Sholtz def. Savannah Margot Ingledew (Penn), 3-2 (8-11, 3-11, 11-6, 11-6, 12-10)
Order of finish: 8, 2, 6, 1, 9, 4, 7, 3, 5
Next Up
The Crimson will begin its journey at the CSA Team National Championship starting on Thursday, March 5.
