STANFORD, Calif. – The fifth-ranked Stanford women’s squash team split a pair of matches last week during an eastern road trip. The Cardinal lost 9-0 at No. 2 Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, then rebounded for a 7-2 victory against No. 8 Columbia in New York.
The team is now 7-2 on the season.
“Penn is clearly No. 2 behind Harvard, so it wasn’t unexpected,” said Stanford head coach Mark Talbott. “It was nice to beat Columbia because we lost to them last year.”
Talbott cited the play of freshman Grayson Melby from Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, who split the first four games against her Penn opponent, then fell in the decisive fifth.
Fifth-year senior captain Madeleine Gill from Darien, Connecticut led the way against Columbia, recording a five-game win. Talbott also praised the play of freshman Lucy Rowe from Bryn Mar, Pennsylvania, who lost in the fifth game, 12-10.
“Really exciting and fun to watch,” said Talbott, who had never taken a team to New York.
Stanford returns to the East Coast next week when it plays six opponents in three days at New Haven, Connecticut. On Friday, the team plays No. 4 Yale, followed by Saturday matches against No. 9 Dartmouth, No. 7 Cornell and No. 13 Williams. On Sunday, the squad concludes the trip against No. 12 Drexel and No. 3 Princeton.
