Middlebury, VT — For the past few seasons, Middlebury has been among the exciting up-and-coming young squads in the B Division. This year, the Middlebury players will bring years of college squash experience to the competition. Almost the entire starting line-up returns, and two new players — Maddie Hoar and Alison Surdoval — will add depth in the bottom of the order. The veteran Middlebury players will have had the opportunity to learn from last season’s Women’s National Team Championships, where they were on the short end of two 5-4 matches. That experience will be invaluable as the team takes on the increasingly close competition in and around the B Division. Almost every match the team plays has the potential to be tough. “Williams, Bates, F&M, GWU, Columbia, Amherst, Hamilton, Colby, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Brown: All will be competitive matches for us,” explains head coach John Illig. But the team is looking forward to having fun along the way. “We always have a blast,” says Illig. When the Panthers return from their annual overnight hiking trip to the Adirondack Mountains, they will have quite the new squash facility to come home to. The $8.4 million facility, which is slated for completion in October, boasts nine courts, bleachers, a sound system, electronic scoreboards, three permanent video cameras, a ball machine, and a squash team work-out room.
2012-2013 SEASON RECAP
Season Record: 16-6
Final Ranking: 12
Team Championships: 4th in the Kurtz Cup (B Division)
2013-2014 SEASON PREVIEW
Program Status: Varsity
Head Coach: John Illig
Returning Players from Team Championships: 1. Charlotte Dewey (2015 – First Team All-NESCAC); 2. Abigail Jenkins (2014 – Second Team All-NESCAC); 3. Anne Wymard (2015 – NESCAC All-Academic; Second Team All-NESCAC); 4. Tiffany Hau (2016); 5. Zoe Carey (2016); 6. Saskia Pownall-Gray (2016); Amanda Chen (2014 – Scholar Athlete; NESCAC All-Academic); 9. Katie Dewey (2015); 11. Wanning Seah (2016)
Graduated/Non-Returning Players from 2012-2013 Team Championships: 8. Lindsay Becker (2013 – NESCAC All-Academicl NESCAC All-Sportsmanship); 10. Anne Ulrich (2013 – Scholar Athlete; NESCAC All-Academic); Molly Hubbard (2013)
Additions to the 2013-2014 Roster:
- Expected to play in the bottom 3: Maddie Hoar (Dana Hall) and Alison Surdoval (Blair Academy)
Captains: Abby Jenkins and Amanda Chen
Team Goals: Top three finish at NESCAC tournament; top twelve in national rankings.
Key Matches: Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Brown, Colby, Columbia, F&M, George Washington, Hamilton, and Wesleyan
To read other team previews, please visit the 2013-2014 College Squash Season Previews page.
