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Winter Storm Postpones Pivotal Squash Matchups

Squashed
Angeline L. Baniqued

Sophomore Vidya Rajan, shown above in earlier action, and the rest of the Harvard men’s and women’s squash teams had their highly anticipated matchups against Trinity postponed until Feb. 9 due to the weather.

With the semester newly underway, snow generally means snowball fights and snowmen galore for Harvard students.

For many student-athletes, the snow has meant something a little different.

The athletes involved in the Crimson Squash program, for instance, learned that with last night’s snowfall, the highly anticipated matches against Trinity were postponed until Feb. 9.

But No. 1 sophomore Laura Gemmell seemed sure that the schedule change wouldn’t affect the athletes’ preparation and mentality going into the toughest part of their season.

“We’ll be fine,” she said. “It’ll be hectic, but…we’ll be fine.”

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The matchups, originally slated for last night at 5:00 p.m., undoubtedly brought the toughest competition yet to the table for both the men’s and women’s teams.

The No. 6 Harvard men’s squad (4-2, 2-1 Ivy) was set to face the No. 1 team boasting the longest winning streak in the history of intercollegiate varsity sports: 232 wins.

The Bantams (8-0, 1-0 NESCAC) were set to take on the Crimson at Barnaby Courts under the coaching expertise of Paul Assaiante, who was selected in the summer of 2010 as the National Coach for US Squash.

Fresh from toppling Bates without dropping a single frame, Harvard’s No. 1 women’s squash team (6-0, 3-0) was also looking at a close match from No. 3 Trinity (8-1, 1-0). Bantam No. 2 junior Pamela Hathway was narrowly defeated in five sets by Gemmell in last season’s CSA Individual Championship title match.

The new date means that the Harvard women will face off against No. 2 Yale, No. 3 Trinity, No. 4 Princeton, and No. 5 Penn within a span of only eight days.

After matches against St. Lawrence and Hamilton, the same will hold true for the men’s team.

“It’ll be a very busy week,” Gemmell conceded.

But she also noted that the teams haven’t taken the break lightly.

“We’re going to keep up training,” she said. “Everyone is figuring out certain things in their game so they’ll be at their best…Everyone is on the court all the time. Hopefully we’ll have a positive result.”

Also facing potential delays due to the snowstorm is the Harvard women’s basketball program.

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