Boston, MA — The early afternoon matches featured the two A Division semifinals plus A and B Division consolation matches.
Howe Cup (A Division): The 2012 Howe Cup finals will be a rematch of the 2011 finals, as Harvard and Yale both advanced with wins in the semifinals.
Harvard faced Trinity in the top half of the A Division main draw. Early on it looked like Trinity would make a real run for it. The Bantams’ Chanel Erasmus and the Crimson’s Megan Murray took the #9 match to five games, delighting the enthusiastic fans that packed the stands. The match came down to the final points, with Murray winning 11-9 in the fifth. The Crimson didn’t look back after that. Though the Bantams fought gamely, the Crimson rolled into the finals with a 9-0 win.
In the other semifinal, Yale went to an early 4-0 lead. The #3 match between Yale captain Rhetta Nadas and Princeton first-year Nicole Bunyan went to five games, with Bunyan coming from behind to put the Tigers on the board. Shihui Mao’s 3-0 win at #7 over Hallie Dewey gave the Bulldogs their fifth win, putting them into their second national team final in as many years. The final score was Yale 7, Princeton 2.
In last year’s final, Harvard and Yale were tied 4-4 going into the final individual match. Yale’s Kim Hay defeated Harvard’s June Tiong to clinch the national championship for the Bulldogs. Two weeks ago, the two teams met again at Yale where they played for the Ivy League title. Again a championship came down to the final individual match, and Harvard’s Haley Mendez won in three at #4 to give the Crimson the 2012 Ivy League title. That team match was incredibly close, with two individual matches going to four games, four matches going to five games, and two of the three other matches going into extra points in at least one game. Harvard does have the home court advantage, but expect tomorrow’s final to be another thriller.
In the consolation bracket, Penn swept Dartmouth to advance to the consolation finals.
Kurtz Cup (B Division): Columbia was dominant in the Kurtz Cup consolation match-up between the Lions and the Diplomats of F&M. Columbia won the match 8-1, and all but the #4 match between Liz Chu (Columbia) and Erin Golueke (F&M) and the #3 match between Kate Calihan (Columbia) and Halley Cruice (F&M) were decided in three games. (Chu won in four, and Calihan won in five.) Roxana Mead at #2 was the only F&M player to win a match.
Walker Cup (C Division): George Washington and Wesleyan advanced to the Walker Cup final earlier today.
Epps Cup (D Division): William Smith and Smith advanced to the Epps Cup final earlier today.
E Division: More E Division matches are scheduled for later today.
Emerging Teams Division: More Emerging Teams matches are scheduled for later today.
