The remaining conference champions left to be crowned – NESCAC Women’s and Ivy League Men’s and Women’s Championships – were decided with emphatic victories on Sunday. Congratulations to the following teams on their achievements:
- Harvard University – Ivy League Women’s Champions
- Harvard University – Ivy League Men’s Champions
- Trinity College – NESCAC Women’s Champions
On Sunday, the Harvard women completed the remarkable feat of winning every match of the regular season by an unblemished 9-0 score. The Harvard men, too, went undefeated on the year. Both teams will carry their No. 1 overall ranking into their respective national team championship tournaments over the next two weekends. The Trinity women cruised through the 11-team NESCAC bracket on their home courts, clinching the victory with an 8-1 victory over 2nd-seed Williams.
Conference championship accomplishments aside, the trend of tight matches, intriguing upsets, and foreshadowing of the excitement to come at the team championships continued. The No. 16 George Washington men, with a couple vital members back in the lineup after a long absence, handed No. 11 Drexel a major upset loss, 8-1. Additionally, No. 13 Navy, No. 18 Middlebury men, and No. 18 Dickinson women all withstood strong challenges from teams just behind them in the rankings with 5-4 victories.
Few other matches from this weekend captured the drama that transpired during the final weekend of Ivy League play. Three of the eight women’s matches finished with 5-4 scores, including No. 6 Penn’s back-to-back close wins over No. 11 Cornell and No. 7 Columbia. However, it was the Ivy League men’s matches that will have the greatest impact on tomorrow’s newest rankings release.
It started on Friday night, with No. 5 Columbia traveling to No. 8 Princeton. The Tigers got the better of the Lions on their home courts with an incredibly close 5-4 victory. Every single match in the ladder progressed to at least a fourth game.
Both of those teams were involved in the drama on Sunday as well. Columbia returned home, thinking upset against No. 2 Penn, while Princeton made the grueling trip to No. 14 Cornell. Cornell had things tied at 4 matches apiece before Princeton captured the top match to seal the 2-0 weekend. Less an hour later downstate, Columbia and Penn’s back-and-forth affair ended with four straight Lions victories and a 6-3 win.
In the NESCAC Women’s Championship, the seeds played out almost in order, despite the close national rankings coming into the event. No. 13 Williams prevailed over No. 14 Middlebury, and Amherst broke the tie with Tufts of the two teams knotted in 16th position. In the NESCAC seventh place match, No. 24 Wesleyan did upset No. 21 Hamilton, 5-4.
The full list of results can be found here: Women and Men.
Stay tuned to the CSA website and social media platforms as we prepare for three straight championship weekends starting this Friday, February 15! And, please do not miss our College Squash Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, scheduled for the Saturdays of each team championship weekend!
