HomeArticlesCSA Women's Team Championships - Day 1 Recap

CSA Women’s Team Championships – Day 1 Recap

Virginia’s Meagan Best (right) helped her team to a dramatic upset victory over Drexel with a win over the Dragons’ Alina Bushma (left) – photo by Michael T. Bello

The 2023 National Collegiate Women’s Team Squash Championships began on Friday with 31 teams in competition across four divisions. The Championships are being held on the campus of University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Teams played quarterfinal matches throughout the day, competing for a spot in the divisional semifinals, scheduled for Saturday.

Howe Cup – National Championship Division

The match of the day in the Howe Cup came between two familiar foes: Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference (MASC) members Drexel and Virginia. Even though Drexel captured the first two meetings between the teams this season, it was Virginia who emerged victorious with an upset 5-4 win on Friday. With the score knotted at 4 matches apiece, Virginia’s No. 6 Sydney Maxwell earned a hard-fought 3-1 to clinch the victory.

Two pairs of Ivy League competitors – Harvard versus Columbia and Princeton versus Cornell – faced off for the second time this season. The seeds held, with Harvard and Princeton matching their regular season wins with victories today, while top-seeded Trinity also secured their own first round win.

(1) Trinity College def. (8) Yale University – 9-0
(2) Harvard University def. (7) Columbia University – 6-3
(3) Princeton University def. (6) Cornell University – 6-3
(5) University of Virginia def. (4) Drexel University – 5-4

Kurtz Cup – B Division

The Kurtz Cup quarterfinals went according to seeding in the quarterfinals. Seventh seeded Amherst came closest to an upset, losing 6-3 to 2-seed Dartmouth.

(1) University of Pennsylvania def. (8) Bowdoin College – 9-0
(2) Dartmouth College def. (7) Amherst College – 6-3
(3) Tufts University def. (6) William Smith College – 7-2
(4) Stanford University def. (5) Williams College – 7-2

Walker Cup – C Division

Walker Cup teams started the day off with a bang, including two 5-4 upsets which went down to the wire. First, it was sixth-seeded Chatham making huge strides in their second season with an upset of Franklin & Marshall College after capturing the last match on court. Similarly, the interconference match-up between Colby and Wesleyan was close throughout, and Wesleyan edged out the win in the ninth and deciding match.

(1) Middlebury College def. (8) Denison University – 8-1
(2) Georgetown University def. (7) Dickinson College – 7-2
(6) Chatham University def. (3) Franklin & Marshall College – 5-4
(5) Wesleyan University def. (4) Colby College – 5-4

Epps Cup – D Division

Strong performances by the 2-, 3-, and 4-seeds in the Epps Division highlighted the evening session of quarterfinals day. Top-seeded St. Lawrence enters the competition on Saturday after a bye today and will look to hold serve against Hamilton. Conn College, Mount Holyoke, and Vassar enter a three-team round robin for the final places in the division.

(1) St. Lawrence University BYE
(2) Bates College def. (7) Vassar College – 9-0
(3) Haverford College def. (6) Mount Holyoke College – 8-1
(4) Hamilton College def. (5) Connecticut College – 9-0

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