NEW HAVEN, Conn.--The Smith College squash advanced to the third/fourth place playoff with a 7-2 win over New York University on Saturday at the Howe Cup.  Smith will play the University of California, a team the Pioneers have defeated twice before this season for the "E" Group third place at the Hopkins Prep School. 

Jacquelien Zhou got the Pioneers going with a 3-0 (11-4, 11-7, 11-4) win over Susan Lin at No. 1, and Eunice Zhao (Las Vegas, Nev./Liberty) followed suit with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-7) win over Yuxin Lin at No. 2.

Szilvi Kiss knocked off Michelle Yagnatorley 3-0 (11-7, 11-2, 11-4) at No. 4, and Jana Chan (San Francisco, Calif./The Bay School) was victorious over Elizabeth Joffey 3-1 (11-9, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5) at No. 5. 

Haruka Shimoto (Tokyo, Japan/International School of the Sacred Heart) fell in five games to Genevieve Tang 13-11, 8-11, 4-11, 11-9, 17-19 at No. 6.  The 19-17 score of the fifth game was the second longest of the season - Shimoto also played a 20-18 game earlier this year.

Carly Melillo (Chester, Conn./Valley) also went five games in a 3-2 (9-11, 11-5, 4-11, 11-7, 12-10) win over Sunny Park, and Dipshika Mahajan and Jin Lee (Princeton, N.J./Montgomery) each recorded 3-0 wins over Lina Wang and Aahili Jumjhunwala, with Mahajan winning 3-0 (11-1, 11-5, 11-6) and Lee scoring an 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 triumph.

Smith will play California at the Hopkins prep school at 9 a.m.