HomeArticlesAround the Courts: College Squash Highlights (2/5/2017)

Around the Courts: College Squash Highlights (2/5/2017)

College Squash AssociationHatfield, MA — This week’s collegiate squash was dominated by the NESCAC and Liberty League Championships.

On Tuesday, George Washington hosted Virginia. The pair of teams were competing for the Washington/Jefferson Squash Cup, which goes to the school with the most cumulative victories in the men’s and women’s matches. The GW women avenged a 5-4 December loss with a 7-2 victory over the Cavaliers. The GW men won 8-1.

Penn visited Princeton on Wednesday. The 6th-ranked Quaker men defeated 10th-ranked Princeton, 6-3. This marked the Penn men’s first victory at Princeton since 1973. The Penn women defeated the Tigers, 8-1. In Massachusetts, the 28th-ranked Conn College women visited 26th-ranked Wellesley. The Camels emerged with a 5-4 victory.

On Friday, Navy travelled to Hobart and shutout the Statesmen.

Saturday began a weekend of Ivy League play. Brown hosted Penn. The Quakers defeated both Brown squads. At Yale, Princeton faced the Bulldogs. In the men’s match, Yale defeated the Tigers, 6-3. The 5th-ranked Yale women almost surprised 4th-ranked Princeton. Thanks to winning the bottom five ladder positions, the Tigers emerged with a 5-4 victory. In New Hampshire, Dartmouth and Cornell traded matches. The Big Green won the men’s match, 8-1, while Cornell won the women’s match, 7-2. In Boston, Harvard defeated both Columbia squads.

In Pennsylvania, Haverford hosted Navy and Georgetown. In the women’s match, Haverford earned a 5-4 victory over Georgetown. For the men, Haverford lost 0-9 to Navy, but shutout Georgetown. In the nation’s capital, George Washington defeated both Franklin and Marshall squads.

On Sunday, Ivy League play continued. Brown hosted and lost to both Princeton squads. The Harvard men and women defeated Cornell. Columbia visited Dartmouth. The Columbia men defeated Dartmouth, 8-1, while the Columbia women beat the Big Green, 7-2. Penn visited Yale. The Penn women defeated the Bulldogs, 9-0, while in the men’s match, 9th-ranked Yale defeated 6th-ranked Penn, 7-2.

The Liberty League tournament was held this weekend at the University of Rochester and the Genesee Valley Club. Traditionally, this event is held at the beginning of the season, but starting this season, the event was moved to February. The five Liberty League men’s schools (Bard, Hobart, Rochester, St. Lawrence, and Vassar) compete in the event. Please note there is not a Liberty League women’s championship.

On Saturday, Rochester defeated Vassar, 9-0, and Hobart defeated Bard, 9-0. In addition, Bard defeated Vassar, 6-3, and St. Lawrence was victorious over Hobart, 8-1. The evening match between 4th-ranked Rochester and 7th-ranked St. Lawrence was the featured match of the tournament. Down 2-4, St. Lawrence came back to tie the match at 4-4 with only the #1 match to play. Trailing 1-2 in games, St. Lawrence’s top player won the final two games to win the team match for the Saints.

The round robin tournament concluded on Sunday with a series of 9-0 matches. Rochester defeated Bard and Hobart, St. Lawrence defeated Vassar and Bard, and Hobart defeated Vassar. St. Lawrence captured their fourth consecutive Liberty League title. With this title, St. Lawrence and Rochester are tied with six overall Liberty League crowns.

This weekend, Amherst College hosted the 11th New England Small College Athletic Conference Championships. Eleven schools participated in the men’s and women’s event (Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Conn College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Trinity, Tufts, Wesleyan, and Williams).

The women’s championship began on Friday with Colby defeating Wesleyan, 7-2, Bowdoin defeating Hamilton, 8-1, and Tufts defeating Conn College, 8-1. The quarterfinals began bright and early at 8 AM on Saturday morning. Bates defeated Amherst, 7-2, and Trinity shutout Colby. In the second round of quarterfinal matches, Middlebury blanked Colby and Williams shutout Bowdoin. In the afternoon semifinals, Trinity defeated Bates, 9-0, and Williams defeated Middlebury, 8-1.

At Smith College for consolation play, Wesleyan edged Hamilton, 5-4, and shutout Conn College. Hamilton defeated Conn College, 7-2. Back at Amherst, Bowdoin defeated Tufts, 5-4, and Amherst defeated Colby, 6-3.

The championship concluded on Sunday with Trinity defeating Williams for their 11th-consecutive conference title. In the match for 3rd place, Bates defeated Middlebury, 5-4. Colby defeated Tufts, 7-2, and Amherst defeated Bowdoin, 5-4.

The men’s championship opened on Friday with Wesleyan defeating Tufts, 7-2, Amherst shutting out Conn College, and Bowdoin defeating Hamilton, 7-2. On Saturday, the quarterfinals featured Middlebury’s 9-0 victory over Colby, Trinity shutting out Wesleyan, Williams defeating Amherst, 7-2, and Bates defeating Bowdoin, 9-0. The seedings continued to hold during the semifinals. Trinity defeated Middlebury, 9-0, and Bates defeated Williams, 7-2.

In consolation play hosted by Smith College on Saturday, Tufts defeated Hamilton, 6-3, and Conn College, 7-2. Hamilton was a 6-3 victor over Conn College. In the consolation rounds at Amherst, Colby defeated Wesleyan, 6-3, and Amherst defeated Bowdoin, 6-3.

On Sunday, Wesleyan earned the first seeding upset of the tournament with a 9-0 victory over Bowdoin. Colby defeated Amherst, 6-3. Middlebury defeated Williams, 5-4, to capture 3rd place in the event. Trinity remains undefeated all-time in NESCAC Tournament play with a victory over Bates. This marked the 11th NESCAC title for the Bantams.

In club-vs.-club women’s matches Virginia defeated Cal (twice), Johns Hopkins, Fordham, and Washington St. Louis (twice).

In club-vs.-club men’s matches Boston College defeated Duke. Boston University defeated Bryant, Colgate, Swarthmore, and Ithaca. Brandeis defeated Babson. Colgate defeated Swarthmore and Bryant. Duke defeated Vanderbilt and Sewanee. NYU defeated Bucknell. Notre Dame defeated UNC. Virginia defeated UNC, Notre Dame, Duke, BC, and Sewanee. Vanderbilt  defeated Sewanee.

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.

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