No. 15 Stanford squash (0-8) dropped three matches on the road against No. 12 Dartmouth, No. 10 Brown and No. 1 Harvard on Friday and Saturday, concluding a winless regular season.
The 15th-ranked Cardinal were outgunned by the depth of Dartmouth and Harvard, losing by a 1-8 score to both the Big Green on Friday and the Crimson on Saturday. Stanford kept it closer against Brown, losing 3-6.
The losses all included forfeits at positions No. 8 and 9, as Stanford continued to struggle with injuries and a depleted roster. The Cardinal did not field a full nine-player lineup for their entire regular season.
Over the weekend, Stanford played without its most important contributor: sophomore Cassie Ong. The absence of Ong due to illness left Stanford with much tougher individual matchups against three talented Ivy League rosters.
Despite the challenge, sophomore Si Yi Ma turned in a standout performance over the weekend, going undefeated and notching Stanford’s only wins against Dartmouth and Harvard. Ma has had a successful debut season for the Cardinal, winning all but one of her individual matches.
Senior Sumi Mudgil battled through two five-game marathons at the No. 4 position, storming back from a two-game deficit to win against Brown but losing to Dartmouth. Senior Elena Wagenmans, who returned to the top of Stanford’s lineup after playing at position No. 1 throughout her previous two seasons, contributed Stanford’s only other win of the weekend, against Brown.
Stanford will now turn its attention to the Women’s National Championships on Feb. 25 in Boston. Ranked at No. 15 for now, and with no more matches on their schedule, the Cardinal have almost certainly fallen out of contention for the top division of college squash’s tiered postseason, where the top eight teams compete for the national championship.
The Cardinal’s postseason bracket this year will likely be in a lower division and against unfamiliar opponents for a program that only a few years ago was in the mix for the national championship. For a team that has faced immense challenges both on and off the court all season, it’ll have to do.