Northampton, MA — The Pioneer Valley Invitational and the Yale Round Robin were the major tournaments of the weekend.
However, action began earlier in the week. Trinity travelled to New Hampshire to face Dartmouth on Tuesday. In the men’s match, the Bantam’s prevailed, 8-1. In the women’s match, Trinity trailed 1-2 after the first wave of matches, but came back to defeat the Big Green, 6-3. Amherst visited Bates. The Bobcat men shutout the Jeffs, while the women prevailed 6-3. Both Hamilton squads lost to host Middlebury, 0-9.
Amherst continued its Maine road trip on Wednesday with a stop at Bowdoin. The Bowdoin men earned a 7-2 victory, while the 20th-ranked Polar Bear women defeated the 19th-ranked Jeffs. In Pennsylvania, Franklin & Marshall hosted Penn. F&M’s men defeated the Quakers, 8-1, while the women fell 0-9. Also on Wednesday, George Washington hosted Navy, a showdown between two closely ranked teams. The Midshipmen won, 6-3.
Thursday’s sole match was between Colby and MIT. The Mules shutout the Engineers.
This weekend featured two round robin events: the Pioneer Valley Invitational and the Yale Round Robin.
At the Pioneer Valley Invitational, Amherst, Mount Holyoke, and Smith hosted matches. There were eleven schools participating in the event. Amherst defeated Haverford to open the tournament. The Amherst men also faced Western Ontario on Friday night. The Mustangs defeated the Jeffs, 9-0. The Amherst women defeated Wellesley. The Jeffs also defeated Hamilton on Saturday.
The Wesleyan men and women defeated Haverford and Northeastern. Wesleyan also defeated Mount Holyoke for the second time this season. Amherst and Wesleyan played on Sunday. The Little Three rivals split. The Amherst women won 7-2, while the Wesleyan men won 5-4. This was the first victory over Amherst by the Wesleyan men since the 1988 – 1989 season.
The Harvard men opened the event against Western Ontario. The Crimson captured the match, 8-1, which included two 5-game and two 4-game matches. The Hamilton women lost to Harvard. Both Crimson squads defeated Amherst to close out the weekend.
Smith lost to Northeastern and Haverford. Wellesley defeated Haverford, 9-0, but lost to Mount Holyoke, 2-7.
At the Yale Round Robin, the 10th-ranked St. Lawrence men had an impressive weekend, which included shutouts of Conn and Williams, and an 8-1 victory over 9th-ranked Columbia. The St. Lawrence women lost to Conn and Williams.
The 5th-ranked Rochester men travelled to New Haven to face 4th-ranked Yale. The Bulldogs defended their home courts with a 6-3 victory. The Yale women shutout Stanford and George Washington.
Williams defeated both George Washington teams, 8-1. Bowdoin and Drexel played close matches, with both Bowdoin squads coming out ahead. The Polar Bear men won 5-4, while the women won 6-3.
The Conn women defeated Tufts and St. Lawrence. The Columbia women shutout F&M. The Stanford men defeated Hobart, 6-3, but Hobart defeated Tufts, 6-3.
Trinity travelled to Penn for a match on Saturday. The Trinity men blanked the Quakers. In the women’s match, the 5th-ranked Quakers defeated the 4th-ranked Bantams, 6-3. The Trinity women also defeated Stanford, 7-2.
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.
Schools are reminded that to qualify for the National Team Championships, a minimum number of matches must be played at specific periods of the season:
- Varsity teams are required to play ten (10) matches against other CSA teams to enter team championships. At minimum, each team should have at least 6 different opponents. Varsity teams should play the majority of their matches against other varsity schools.
- Club teams are required to play eight (8) matches against other CSA teams to enter team championships. In addition, club teams must play at least four (4) matches between January 1st and February 10th. At minimum, each team should have at least five (5) different opponents.
For complete results from all of this weekend’s action, see Women’s Results and Men’s Results.
