Gemmell, though, is quick to credit her coaches for her success.

“My coaches were really helpful to me,” she said. “I think my game developed a lot since last year...Working hard and the coaching I received helped me play some solid squash, especially at nationals.”

Gemmell’s first national exposure as a member of a college team was at the CSA National Championships in New Haven, Conn. En route to Harvard’s victory, Gemmell again took out the broom, sweeping Williams’ Eyre and Penn’s Lange. In the second of the three matches, she also swept Yale’s Logan Greer.

Then, a week later, Gemmell returned to Yale’s courts for the CSA Individual Championships, where she hoped to fulfill her goal of becoming a national champion.

After making it to the quarterfinals, Gemmell encountered a rather unexpected opponent—her teammate Alisha Mashruwala, the captain for the 2010-11 season.

But Gemmell was unaffected by this matchup; she swept Mashruwala and then Yale’s Greer for a second time to make it to the finals.

In between Gemmell and the Ramsay Cup was Trinity’s Pamela Hathway.

Hathway, a junior, had uprooted the Bantams’ Nour Bahgat from her No. 1 position—an impressive feat considering Bahgat was the defending national champion.

The match was the closest of Gemmell’s season. After capturing the first game, Gemmell dropped the next two to Hathway. It was then do-or-die for the rookie.

The freshman snagged an 11-8 win in the fourth game, setting up the tiebreaker.

Deep into the fifth, the athletes were tied at nine apiece.

Gemmell then won the next two points to become the national champion.

“I had a tough five-game match in the final,” Gemmell recalled. “My coach definitely pulled me through.”

Yet, as national champion, Ivy League Rookie and Player of the Year, CSA All-American, member of the All-Ivy team, and team MVP, Gemmell is still looking to improve.

“I’m going to focus on squash this summer,” Gemmell said. “I’m going to Australia to compete in the World University Games… I have to get my strength and conditioning up.”

—Staff writer Molly E. Kelly can be reached at mkelly@college.harvard.edu.