Hatfield, MA — Another busy week for college squash that included many upsets throughout the rankings.
On Monday, the Drexel women hosted and defeated Wellesley, 9-0. Also in Pennsylvania, the 3rd-ranked Trinity women visited 2nd-ranked Penn. The Quakers defended their home courts with a 5-4 victory over the Bantams.
Wellesley’s road trip continued on Tuesday. The Blue Pride defeated Haverford, 8-1.
The Cornell men travelled to upstate New York on Wednesday. They opened the day with a 9-0 victory at Hobart, but lost the night match at Rochester, 0-9. Trinity hosted Yale. The Bantam men shutout Yale, while the Trinity women were 8-1 victors. Navy visited higher ranked George Washington. The 15th-ranked Midshipmen edged the Colonials, 5-4.
The Stanford women opened three days of rare home matches by welcoming Harvard on Thursday. The Crimson defeated Stanford, 9-0. Also on Thursday, the Dickinson men swept Conn, 9-0. The F&M women defeated Wellesley, 8-1.
Dickinson arrived in Boston on Friday. The Red Devil men defeated Tufts, 7-2, but the Jumbo women earned a 5-4 victory over Dickinson to remain undefeated. Bowdoin faced Conn College and Dickinson at MIT. In the men’s matches, Dickinson defeated Bowdoin, 5-4, and Bowdoin shutout Conn College. In the women’s matches, Bowdoin surpassed Dickinson, 5-4, and defeated Conn College, 8-1. MIT also shutout Conn College. Rochester hosted and defeated Drexel, 6-3. The St. Lawrence men welcomed and shutout defending national champion Yale.
In a prelude to the Pioneer Valley Invitational, Brown travelled to Amherst and defeated both Amherst squads, 7-2.
In California on Saturday, Stanford hosted the Yale women. This marked the first West Coast match up between head coach brothers Dave and Mark Talbott. Tied at 4-4, Yale escaped with the 5-4 victory.
At the Fordham Round Robin, Bucknell defeated Bard and Fordham. Fordham defeated Bard, 6-3.
Haverford hosted Vassar and Swarthmore. The Fords picked up a pair of victories. Swarthmore also defeated the Vassar men. The visiting Vassar women were 8-1 victors over Haverford.
In Boston, Dickinson blanked Wellesley, and Harvard shutout the Tufts men. MIT had a pair of victories with a 6-3 win over Dickinson and an 8-1 win over Georgetown.
In upstate New York, the top-ranked Trinity men visited 3rd-ranked Rochester. Last season, the Yellowjackets beat Trinity in the Potter Cup semifinals, 5-4, in the final match. Saturday’s meeting was just as dramatic. Tied at 4-4, the match came down to the #1s. Rochester earned the 3-2 individual victory and thus the 5-4 team victory. This was the Yellowjackets’ 3rd victory over the Bantams in the past four meetings.
Middlebury and George Washington visited St. Lawrence. The St. Lawrence men earned victories against the Panthers and the Colonials. The George Washington women defeated Middlebury and St. Lawrence. The Middlebury women were 7-2 victors over St. Lawrence.
Drexel visited and shutout Hobart and William Smith on Sunday. The Cornell women defeated George Washington, but the 12th-ranked George Washington men surprised 10th-ranked Cornell, 5-4. Earlier in the day, Cornell lost 0-9 to the Trinity men and women.
Dartmouth hosted and defeated both Middlebury squads. In their final match of the home stand, the Stanford women fell to Penn, 3-6.
In Boston, both Tufts squads defeated Georgetown. The Tufts men also defeated Boston University.
This weekend, teams decended on Western Massachusetts with 33 matches taking place at the annual Pioneer Valley Invitational (PVI), which was tri-hosted by Amherst, Mount Holyoke, and Smith. Friday’s play saw the Amherst men defeat Stanford, 8-1, and the Amherst women beat William Smith, 9-0. Western Ontario had a pair of matches at Smith College. The Mustangs defeated Stanford and Colby. The Colby women defeated Smith.
On Saturday, the PVI continued with play at all three sites. At Amherst, the 18th-ranked Bates men upset 13th-ranked Franklin & Marshall, 5-4. The Bobcat women also defeated F&M, 6-3. Amherst defeated both Hamilton squads. F&M returned to action in an afternoon match and defeated the Amherst women, 5-4, and the Amherst men, 9-0. At Mount Holyoke, Colby opened the morning with an 8-1 victory over the Stanford men and a 6-3 victory over Mount Holyoke. The Wesleyan women also defeated Mount Holyoke, 6-3, and the Weselyan men were victorious over Stanford, 8-1. Wesleyan faced Colby in the late afternoon match. The Mules women edged Wesleyan, 5-4, while the Colby men earned an 8-1 victory. At Smith, Hobart went 1-1 on the day, losing to Western Ontario and defeating Conn College. The William Smith women picked up victories over Smith and Conn College. Western Ontario defeated the Conn College men, while the Conn College women defeated Smith.
On the final day of PVI play, Amherst hosted and fell to both Bates squads, 8-1. F&M added a pair of victories over Colby. In the final match at Amherst, the 23rd-ranked Colby men defeated 20th-ranked Amherst, 5-4. The Amherst women shutout Colby. In Northampton, Hamilton defeated the Stanford men and hosts Smith. Wesleyan earned 6-3 victories in both the men’s and women’s matches against Hamilton.
In club-vs.club matches, the Bucknell women defeated Fordham. Both Northeastern teams defeated Boston College.
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. At minimum, each team should have at least five (5) different opponents.
For a regular season match to officially count for ranking purposes, each team must have at least seven players. Matches with less than seven players per team will not count towards the required number of matches for entry into the National Team Championships.
For complete results from all of this weekend’s action, see Women’s Results and Men’s Results.
