Princeton, NJ — Colby and Georgetown won their divisions at the 2017 Women’s National Team Championships.
D Division (Epps Cup): Epps Cup finalists Colby and Hamilton are no strangers to each other. The two New England Small College Athletic Conference schools faced each other in early January, when the Mules came away from the match with a 5-4 win. Colby came into the tournament as the top seed in the division, with Hamilton the second seed. In today’s match, Colby swept the first flight of matches, winning all three matches in three games. Hamilton posted a win at number 5 in the next round, but it would prove to be the Continentals’ only victory of the day. The Mules had clinched the title before the second round was over. The final score was Colby 8, Hamilton 1. Today’s historic win marks the first time in program history that the Mules have won a division at the Women’s National Team Championships.
E Division: Between them, Georgetown and Haverford had won three of the four previous E Division titles, with Haverford winning in 2013 and 2014 and Georgetown winning last year. And one of the two teams was guaranteed to keep that streak up today, as the Fords and Hoyas met in the E Division final. Georgetown and Haverford had met in early February, and Haverford had won a tight 5-4 match on their home courts. Today’s final was equally competitive. Haverford came out of the first flight of matches with a 2-1 lead, thanks in part to a default from Georgetown. In the second round, the Hoyas evened the score with wins at number 8 and number 5; going into the final flight, the score was tied 3-all. Haverford won at number 1, but Georgetown took the lower two matches to emerge with a 5-4 victory. This was the Hoyas’ fourth division title; they won the D Division in 2011 and Emerging Teams in 2008.
