Northampton, MA — With less than a week until the Women’s National Team Championships (Howe Cup), and with the Men’s National Team Championships right around the corner, the college squash action is heating up.
All teams that competed this weekend MUST record their match scores as soon as possible in the US Squash Database. If scores are not reported, it is impossible to rank teams accurately, and penalties, including possible removal from the rankings, will occur.
Play at the Women’s National Team Championships will start Friday morning at Princeton University. This weekend was the last opportunity for many teams to try to move up the rankings.
The weekend got off to an exciting start with two close matches: Wellesley’s 5-4 win over Boston College, and Amherst’s 5-4 win over Mount Holyoke. Thirteenth-ranked Amherst and fifteenth-ranked Mount Holyoke could potentially face each other again in the Kurtz Cup (“B” Division) competition, while Wellesley (#28) and BC (#29) may meet again in the Epps Cup (“D” Division).
On Saturday, number two Yale’s 5-4 upset of top-ranked Harvard ended the defending national champion’s winning streak, which went back to the beginning of last season. With that win, Yale secured the 2011 Ivy League title.
Another 5-4 upset came further south, with Johns Hopkins’ win over Virginia. Coming into the weekend the Blue Jays were ranked thirty-third and the Cavaliers were ranked thirty-second.
While thirtieth-ranked Georgetown did not defeat F&M, the Hoyas did have a strong 6-3 showing against the Diplomats. Georgetown’s three wins came at the bottom of the ladder.
For the men, a number of club teams were busy this weekend, tuning up for nationals. Johns Hopkins had a successful Saturday, defeating Drexel, Virginia, and Georgetown, a match that was decided 5-4. Washington in St. Louis wrapped up their first-ever regular season campaign with 9-0 victory over Purdue, finishing up with a 5-1 record.
After a 4-5 loss to Colgate on Friday, Northwestern rebounded with a 5-4 upset of Northeastern. On Sunday, Colgate defeated Northeastern 6-3. Northeastern had been ranked thirtieth, while Colgate was thirty-second and Northwestern was thirty-fifth before the weekend.
Earlier in the week, Cornell gave Rochester a scare, falling a match short of upsetting the Yellowjackets. Rochester lost 1-8 to Princeton on Saturday but beat Penn 7-2 on Sunday.
Princeton and Trinity played on Sunday, and the Bantams came away with a closely contested 6-3 win.
Yale’s 7-2 win over Harvard on Saturday made it a Bulldog sweep of the 2011 Ivy League titles.
Wesleyan evened their season series against Columbia with a 5-4 win. The Lions had defeated the Cardinals earlier in the season at the Pioneer Valley Invitational.
Coaches, Team Contacts, and SIDs may nominate players to be the [hpow] by contacting Michael T. Bello. Nominations are due each Monday by 6 PM ET.
For complete results from all of this weekend’s action, see Women’s Results and Men’s Results.
