Hatfield, 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.

Hatfield, MA — There was collegiate squash play throughout New England and the Mid Atlantic states this week.

On Tuesday, Brown visited Williams. The schools traded matches with the 10th-ranked Brown women escaping with a 5-4 victory over the 11th-ranked Ephs, while the Williams men won, 6-3.

Bates visited NESCAC and Maine rival Colby on Wednesday. The Bobcats won the men’s match, 8-1, and the women’s match, 7-2. The Penn men hosted the Naval Academy. The Quakers earned a 7-2 victory over the Midshipmen.

Friday began a busy squash weekend. MIT travelled north to Bowdoin. The 24th-ranked Bowdoin men fell just short of upsetting 20th-ranked MIT, falling 4-5. This marked the first MIT victory over Bowdoin since the 1993-1994 season.

In Rhode Island, both Brown squads defeated Virginia. Farther north, the Harvard women shutout Tufts. In Maryland, the Fordham men defeated Johns Hopkins, 5-4. In New York, Columbia defeated the Williams men, 8-1, and women, 9-0. Farther upstate, Cornell faced Franklin & Marshall. The Big Red women shutout their guests. The 13th-ranked Cornell men edged the 15th-ranked Diplomats, 5-4.

Yale began a weekend road trip with a stop in Philadelphia to face Drexel. The Yale women blanked the Dragons. The 5th-ranked Drexel men earned a 5-4 victory over 8th-ranked Yale. This evened the all-time series between the Drexel and Yale men at 1-1.

On Saturday, Amherst hosted the Little Three Championships. Williams won both the men’s and women’s events. This marks the 18th-consecutive Little Three crown for both Ephs’ squads. The Amherst women defeated Wesleyan, 8-1, while the Amherst men edged Wesleyan, 5-4.

MIT and Wellesley travelled to Maine as a pair on Saturday. At Bates, MIT fell to the Bobcat men, 0-9, while the Bates women defeated Wellesley, 8-1. At Colby, the 22nd-ranked Mules earned a 5-4 victory over 20th-ranked MIT. The 25th-ranked Colby women avenged a 4-5 November loss to 22nd-ranked Wellesley with a 9-0 victory.

In Massachusetts, Tufts hosted and defeated both Conn College squads. In Maryland, Fordham defeated William & Mary, Lafayette, and Vanderbilt. In Connecticut, the Trinity women shutout Stanford.

In Providence, RI, a match of bears occurred. The Brown Bears defeated the visiting Bowdoin Polar Bear squads.  Also at Brown, Middlebury and Virginia met. In the women’s match, Virginia shutout Middlebury, while the Virginia men edged the Panthers, 5-4. Virginia also earned shutout victories over both Conn College teams.

The Rochester men, who earned their first #1 ranking in the program’s 59-year history on Friday, hosted 4th-ranked Harvard. Proving once again how competitive college squash is this season, the Crimson defeated Rochester, 6-3.

Also in New York, the Hamilton men visited and defeated Colgate. At the William Smith Round Robin, St. Lawrence and William Smith both defeated the Colgate women, 9-0. The 24th-ranked William Smith Herons edged 19th-ranked St. Lawrence, 5-4.

Yale visited George Washington. The Bulldog men won 7-2, while the Yale women shutout the Colonials. Also on Saturday, the Yale men shutout Navy.

In Pennsylvania, the Dickinson women bested Mount Holyoke, 9-0. The Haverford men shutout Lehigh, while Mount Holyoke defeated the Haverford women, 9-0.

Vassar hosted the Hudson Valley tournament. The Bard men defeated Boston University, 6-3, and Bryant College, 9-0. The Vassar men defeated Vermont, but lost to Boston University. The Vassar women defeated both Boston University and Bucknell.

On Sunday, Bowdoin and Virginia met at Brown. Virginia captured both the men’s and women’s matches. In Maryland, Fordham lost to Duke, 2-7.

In New York, Columbia hosted Cornell. The 8th-ranked Cornell women defeated 7th-ranked Columbia, 5-4. The Columbia men were 8-1 victors over the Big Red. The Stanford women defeated the Cornell women, 7-2. At Vassar, the Brewers fell to the Northeastern men, 2-7.

Hobart and William Smith hosted Hamilton. The Herons defeated Hamilton, 7-2. In the men’s match, 23rd-ranked Hobart defeated 27th-ranked Hamilton, 5-4.

In Philadelphia, Drexel hosted Dartmouth. The 13th-ranked Drexel women came up just short against 9th-ranked Dartmouth, falling 4-5. The Drexel men won 6-3 over the Big Green. At Dickinson, both home squads defeated Denison. The Rochester men visited Lancaster, PA, on Sunday. The Yellowjackets shutout Franklin & Marshall.

The Harvard men visited St. Lawrence. The Crimson remained undefeated with a 6-3 victory over St. Lawrence.

Middlebury travelled to Brown. The Middlebury men won 7-2, while the Brown women were 9-0 victors.

In Maine, both Colby squads defeated Tufts. The men won 8-1, while the 25th-ranked women defeated 18th-ranked Tufts, 7-2. In an evening match, both Bates squads defeated Tufts.

At Dickinson, Haverford and Dickinson defeated both Denison squads. Dickinson also defeated the two Haverford teams.

In club-vs.-club women’s matches, Smith defeated Bard. Rochester defeated Bard.

In club-vs.-club men’s matches, Washington defeated Notre Dame. Lafayette defeated Swarthmore. Washington defeated Minnesota. Washington defeated USC. Vanderbilt defeated Swarthmore. Swarthmore defeated Siena. Duke defeated Swarthmore. Lafayette defeated William & Mary. Washington defeated Cal. Lafayette defeated Penn State.

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.