Northampton, MA — This weekend, the majority of teams began the 2011 – 2012 college squash season.
At the Liberty League Men’s Championships, five teams were in action. In round robin play, the match between Rochester and St. Lawrence was the closest. The Yellowjackets have two players studying abroad this fall, so could this be the year for St. Lawrence to claim the title? Every individual contest was won 3-0 with Rochester claiming the top five positions, while St. Lawrence captured the bottom four positions. Overall, Rochester finished first, while St. Lawrence finished second. Hobart finished third, followed by Vassar and then Bard. Please note that the Liberty League does not hold a women’s championship.
Connecticut College made the most of their trip to Boston. The 24th-ranked men’s team defeated 16th-ranked Bates and 19th-ranked Wesleyan in 5-4 thrillers. The Camels also defeated MIT and Northeastern. Bates defeated Wesleyan 8-1 and Northeastern 7-2.
The Bates women blanked Northeastern and defeated Wesleyan 7-2. On Saturday, Wesleyan defeated Northeastern and Bowdoin.
Trinity traveled to Bates on Sunday. Both the men’s and women’s teams earned victories over the Bobcats.
Dartmouth traveled to the Naval Academy and Franklin & Marshall. The Dartmouth women opened the season with a 9-0 victory over the Diplomats. The Dartmouth men opened with an 8-1 victory over Navy, and they followed it up with a 9-0 victory over George Washington. Against 8th-ranked Franklin & Marshall, 7th-ranked Dartmouth only captured one of the top three matches. However, the Big Green escaped with a 5-4 victory.
Mount Holyoke opened the season with wins over Smith and Tufts. The Jumbos made the most of their trip to Western Massachusetts with a 6-3 victory over Smith. The Lyons lost to Stanford and Cornell on Sunday.
Also in Western Massachusetts, Williams opened the season by hosting a variety of teams. The Williams women faced a series of formidable opponents, including Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, and Hamilton. The Ephs’ sole victory came against Hamilton. Harvard defeated Stanford 6-3. Stanford’s victories came at the bottom of the ladder. In a battle between the 6th- and 7th-ranked teams, Stanford prevailed over Cornell 7-2. With three five-game matches going to Stanford, a rematch at Howe Cup could be interesting.
Like the Williams’ women, the Ephs’ men lost to Harvard and Cornell, but beat Hamilton.
Coaches and Team Contacts, please remember to enter your team’s results in the US Squash Scoring System on the day of each match. Each player must be named in the results (“Not on Roster” entries will not be tolerated) or penalties may be applied.
Coaches, Team Contacts, and SIDs may nominate players to be the Harrow Sports College Squash Player of the Week 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.
