ITHACA, N.Y. — The women's squash team is preparing for a marathon weekend in which it will play four matches over three days at two different venues.
Cornell (5-2) starts off with a 5 p.m. Friday match against George Washington at Williams, where the Big Red will also take on rival Stanford at 10 a.m. Saturday. The team then treks north for a match at 5 p.m. against Franklin & Marshall at Middlebury. Sunday features a match against host Middlebury at noon.
The Big Red is likely to remain eighth in the new College Squash Association rankings after winning two of three matches last weekend at Belkin International Squash Courts. After falling to three-time defending national champion Harvard on Saturday, Cornell rebounded with a 7-2 triumph over Dartmouth and a 9-0 sweep of William Smith on Sunday.
Sophomore
Lucy Martin leads the Big Red with a 6-1 record, mostly from the No. 8 position. Senior Michele Garceau was rested against William Smith and now sits at 5-1, competing exclusively from the top third of the order. Sophomore
Madison Miles also has five victories, against just one loss, competing primarily at No. 5.
George Washington (6-3) is ranked 12th after a three-match sweep last weekend in a round robin at Bates. Zoe Foo Yuk Han and Mary Jo Mahfood are both 6-3 from the top two positions, while Abby Shanrock has the same record from the Nos. 3 and 4 spots. The Big Red has never lost to the Colonials in five all-time meetings, including a 9-0 decision last year in Ithaca.
Stanford (7-1) started the season ranked fifth, but it used a November victory over Penn to move up to fourth. With its only loss of the season coming a day later against Princeton, the Cardinal has now won five straight while conceding just two points over that span. Casey Wong (1-2), Tara Shannon (2-1) and Chloe Chemtob (3-0) typically compete in the top third. Cornell is 11-7 against Stanford all-time.
Franklin & Marshall (0-8) is ranked 18th after a gantlet of a first-half schedule, starting off its weekend with an 11 a.m. Saturday match against Middlebury. The Diplomats have just seven points in those eight matches – including seven against top-10 teams – with Sherilyn Wang accounting for the majority of them. She sports a 4-4 record while competing exclusively at the No. 1 position. The Big Red has won its last 12 matches against F&M, including a 9-0 sweep last year.
Though it has two matches before facing Cornell on Sunday, Middlebury is currently 6-2, ranked 15th nationally, and entered its clash Wednesday at Trinity on a four-match winning streak. Emily Beinkampen, Mira Chugh and Natalie Madden are tied for the team lead in victories with matching 6-2 record. Beatrijs Kuijpers is 3-2 from the No. 1 position, often followed in the order by Lucy Bostwick (5-3). Cornell has defeated Middlebury by a 9-0 margin in each of the programs' last two meetings.
