The nation's number-one ranked Harvard women's squash team was supposed to be a little weaker this year.

It was supposed to have a harder time repeating as national champions.

There's only one problem.

They forgot to tell the Crimson.

Harvard won its 15th consecutive match, capturing a 7-2 victory against Trinity last night in Hartford, Conn.

The Crimson had a near perfect slate, with only two losses, both of which could have easily have been Crimson wins. The racquetwomen expected a tougher match from Trinity, but Harvard just cruised like a ship in the ocean...Harvard simply dominated.

The Crimson, two-time defending national champion and Ivy League titlist, will host Bowdoin tomorrow at Hemenway Gymnasium. It is Harvard's last match until Feburary.

"It's a good indicator on how strong we are at the bottom," Tri-Captain Sheila Morrissey said. "It was a good first match. Last year we beat Trinity 8-1, so we're not far from that mark."

"I think that we played very well," Morrissey added. "We weren't challenged enough to see our real potential. We really won't know that until February, when the season will really get underway."

At number one, Morrissey split the first four games against Nan Campbell. But Campbell pulled out the final game to give Trinity one of its two hard-fought wins.

Sophomore Stephanie Clark, one of the top rookies last year, continued from where she left off last season. Clark crushed Courtney Geelan in straight games.

Last week, Clark reached the consolation semifinals of the Princeton Invitational.

"It was really good," Clark said. "We have a lot of depth. We have a strong team from one-to-nine. The two losses were at the top, and those could have gone either way."

The number three player, Hope Nichols, dropped a tough four-game decision to Elizabeth Morris. In the fourth game tiebreaker, with the score tied at 15-15, Morris hit a fluke shot that struck Nichols' racket to win the game and match.

Happy B-day, Mary