CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — In a repeat of their Ivy League meeting earlier this year, Yale lost a close match to Princeton in the first round of the Howe Cup national championships on Friday. 

The Tigers took the top four matches on their way to a 6-3 victory. Yale had two near misses that might have been able to alter the result. At No. 8, freshman Jocelyn Lehman lost a five-game nailbiter that included an 11-9 defeat in the deciding set. Senior Shihui Mao, at No. 2, built a 2-1 lead but could not hold on for the win. 

Winning matches for Yale were sophomore Shiyuan Mao as well as juniors Annie Ballaine and Georgia Blatchford.

The defeat relegates the Bulldogs to the consolation bracket, where they will face No. 8 George Washington at 4:00 p.m. Saturday. When the teams met in the regular season, Yale claimed an 8-1 victory.

Report by Evan Brown '16, Yale Sports Publicity