It just wasn't meant to be for the Harvard women's squash team this Sunday, as it suffered its first loss in five years.

In the shocking defeat, the Princeton Tigers proved to be just too powerful for the Crimson. Losing by a 7-2 margin, the only two victories Harvard could muster were from its No. 8 and No. 9 players, junior Vanessa Hoermann and freshman Virginia Brown. HARVARD  5 PENN  4 HARVARD  2 PRINCETON  7

"Actually, it takes a lot of pressure off," Hoermann said. "I am a little disappointed, but not at all in my teammates. Everyone fought their hearts out. We are not looking back; we are looking forward."

Similar to the men's team, the Harvard women's squash team has been a dynasty throughout its existence. It has won the Howe Cup--the women's national championship--the past five years.

Although most would expect this uncharacteristic loss to have a discouraging effect on the team, it has done the exact reverse.

"Team mentality has been uplifted quite a bit." said junior Brooke Herlihy. "Since my freshman year, the overall team philosophy has been that the outcome is less important than putting our hearts and souls in each match. In essence, we still consider ourselves winners."

Prior to the tough loss to Princeton on Sunday, the Crimson squeezed out a close 5-4 victory over Penn on Saturday.

The five victories belonged to No. 3 junior co-captain Stephanie Teaford, No. 4 junior Lindsay Wilber, No. 5 junior Leah Ramella, No. 7 sophomore Blair Endresen, and No. 8 junior Vanessa Hoermann.

"It was an incredibly tough victory, one that we are really proud of," Herlihy said.

Having only one day of rest between the two matches proved to be tough for Harvard.

"After such a tremendously emotional victory on Saturday, it was hard to drum up the same physical energy and emotions on Sunday," Herlihy said.

The next match for Harvard will be in Hanover against Dartmouth tomorrow. And, in two weeks, the Howe Cup begins, where the lady Crimson could be given the opportunity to avenge itself against Princeton.