Adjusting to the bigger courts at Dartmouth might have been over-whelming for most teams not accustomed to them. Not so for the larger-than-life Harvard women's squash team.
The Crimson (7-0, 4-0 Ivy) dominated the Big Green 9-0 in its Wednesday match at Dartmouth.
Winning six of its matches by 3-0 scores and the other three by 3-1 counts, the Crimson still remained careful about becoming complacent.
"It was a different match for us, because of the international-size courts," freshman Lindsay Wilber said. "We had to be in it physically and mentally."
Sophomore Ivy Pochoda, the top seed and a Crimson editor, agreed that the regulation-sized courts posed a challenge.
"We had to carry through, even though it wasn't our toughest match."
The team also had to contend with facing Dartmouth only days after matches against its top Ivy opponents, Penn and Princeton.
"It was a good test for us because we had the toughest matches of the year this weekend," said Pochoda.
Pochoda, Blair Clark, Brooke Herlihy, Stephanie Teaford, Wilber, Lucy Cummings, Leah Ramella, Lana Eisenstein and Vanessa Hoermann played for Harvard.
The Crimson's next match is against Trinity this Saturday.
"We're confident about how we're playing, but not overconfident," said Wilber.
Looking ahead, Harvard is poised to capture the Howe Cup and the intercollegiate national championship for the fourth straight year.
However, the team is staying focused and wary.
"We can't just be a team that shows up and expects to win," said Pochoda. "We have to perform like the best team."
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