Courtesy: Beverly SchaeferThe women's squash team will seek out a winning Ivy League record and some positive momentum heading into the Howe Cup when it takes on a trio of opponents during the upcoming regular season final weekend.
The fifth-ranked Princeton Tigers will play two matches at home before concluding their regular season Sunday afternoon at Columbia. Both Friday's match against seventh-ranked Cornell (5:30) and third-ranked Trinity (1) will take place at the Jadwin Squash Courts, and both will be streamed live on GoPrincetonTigers.TV.
Princeton enters the weekend with a 7-3 record, including a 2-3 mark in the Ivy League. The Tigers are undefeated against teams ranked below them, and they are 0-3 against three of the top four teams in the country.
Princeton has had strong performances against some of the nation's elite, including a 5-4 road loss at top-ranked Harvard. The Tigers had a match ball against the Crimson, and they had a handful of close losses in both a 7-2 loss to No. 2 Yale and a 6-3 loss to No. 4 Penn.
This weekend provides Princeton's last opportunity to post a signature victory heading into the Howe Cup, and that will come Saturday against No. 3 Trinity. The Bantams, who ascended into the Top 3 with a 5-4 win over Penn, split last season against Princeton. Trinity won an 8-1 regular season match, but Princeton bounced back for a 5-4 win in the Howe Cup third-place match.
Saturday's match will feature a top-level showdown at the No. 1 position between Princeton junior Julie Cerullo and Trinity junior Catalina Palaez, two of the top four players in the nation. The Bantams are currently 14-2 on the season and have won five straight matches.
Princeton will also be looking to clinch a winning record in Ivy League play, starting with Friday's match against Cornell. The Big Red is 10-4, 3-2 in the Ivy League, though it lost 9-0 to both Harvard and Yale. Cornell is led by freshman and No. 1 player Danielle Letourneau, the younger sister of former Princeton All-America David Letourneau '11.
Columbia, in its second year as a varsity program, is 5-8 overall, 0-5 in the Ivy League.
