Boston, MA — The action is underway at the 2012 Women’s National Team Championships (Howe Cup). Harvard’s Murr Center is hosting play today and tomorrow, and MIT will host some matches on Sunday.
Howe Cup (A Division): A barn-burner is underway between fourth-seeded Penn and fifth-seeded Trinity. The Bantams had a lead after the first round of individual matches, but Penn has pushed several second-round matches past three games. Top-seeded Harvard and eighth-seeded Dartmouth played in the other morning match, and the Crimson advanced to the semifinals with a commanding 9-0 win.
UPDATE: Trinity defeated Penn 6-3. Trinity and Harvard will play in the semifinals tomorrow.
Kurtz Cup (B Division): All the Kurtz Cup matches are scheduled for the afternoon.
Walker Cup (C Division): The matches in the top half of the Walker Cup draw all went on at 9:00 am. Wesleyan, ranked 20th overall coming into the tournament, advanced to the semifinals with a 6-3 win over Colby, ranked 21st overall. Four of the nine matches went to four games, so it was a competitive but not grueling start to the tournament for the two squads.
Bowdoin, the top seed in the division, faced Wellesley in the other morning match. The Polar Bears looked strong in their first outing of the tournament, rolling to a 9-0 win over the Blue. All of the matches were decided 3-0.
Epps Cup (D Division): All of the Epps Cup matches were played this morning. The day started with matches between Boston College and St. Lawrence and between Vassar and Georgetown. In the BC-St. Lawrence match, the Eagles jumped to an early 2-1 lead after the first round, but the Saints came back in the second to even the match score 3-all going into the third and final round. Wins at #1 and #7 put St. Lawrence into the semifinals, but BC stayed in striking distance with one last win at #4.
The Vassar-Georgetown match was close as well. Vassar controlled the top of the ladder, winning matches #1 through #4, and Georgetown dominated the middle of the order, winning #5 through #8. Vassar’s depth decided the match, as a first round win at #9 tipped the scale in the Brewers’ favor.
During the 11:00 round of matches, division top seed William Smith played Haverford. The Herons nearly swept the Fords, but in the final flight Caroline Nightingale came through at #1 with a 3-0 win to put one on the board for Haverford.
Smith, the second seed in the D Division, also marched through the quarterfinals with an 8-1 win over Virginia. Celia Dyer battled back in five games to win for the Cavaliers at #2.
William Smith and St. Lawrence will play in one semifinal tomorrow, and Smith and Vassar will play in the other.
E Division: The first E Division matches are scheduled for this evening.
Emerging Teams: The first Emerging Teams matches are scheduled for this evening.
