Women's Squash Takes Down Colby and St. Lawrence

MIDDLEBURY, VT – The Ephs end the first part of the squash season with two victories on Saturday. Williams traveled to Middlebury to take on Colby and St. Lawrence and came away with 9-0 and 8-1 victories, respectively. The women also played Yale on Friday on their home courts at the Simon Squash Center, but fell 9-0.

The weekend began with the Ephs challenging the Bulldogs on Friday evening in Williamstown. The women knew it would be a tough match, but none managed to take a game off of their individual Yale opponents.

Saturday expected to favor the Ephs though, and they surely did not disappoint. First up came Colby, where the Ephs only dropped one game on their way to a 9-0 match victory. Positions 2-9 all dispatched of their opponents in three games, but Alyssa Northop, playing at the number one position, faced a tougher challenger. However, after dropping the first game, the women's co-captain stormed back to take the next three and win the match in four games.

With little time to rest, Williams had to turn their attention to an improved St. Lawrence team. Ellen Coombe (#5), Alyssa Ritchie (#6), Lily Grant (#7), Gibbs Cullen (#8), and Maria Pylypiv (#9) all took care of their opponents in three games. 

The top four players faced more of a challenge. Co-captain Ellie O'Neill (#4) overcame losing the first game and was victorious in four games. Caroline Sawin (#3) won the initial two games, but her opponent managed to stretch the match to four games with a victory in the third. Sawin made sure there was no fifth game and closed it out 11-9 in the fourth.

Nicole Feshbach (#2) also won the first two games of her match, but her adversary tied the match at 2-2 with victories in the third and fourth games. Feshbach was determined not to blow her initial lead and won 11-6 in the fifth game. Nothrop (#1) came out of the gate strong and won the first game, but her opponent came back to win the next two. Finding herself down 2-1, Northrop was able to show her poise and stamina to even the match score at 2-2. However, her St. Lawrence opponent proved too strong, and Northrop was eventually defeated 3-2.

"Our team decisively won today against Colby and St. Lawrence," commented Northrop. "All of our training has really paid off, the improvement in each player since the beginning of the season is remarkable!"

Williams finished the day 2-0 and the weekend 2-1, improving their overall season record to 6-5.

"It was a good weekend for our women's team," emphasized coach Levy. "We played well against Yale and had a strong performance against Colby and St. Lawrence. Our team is very young but everybody is moving in the right direction. I am really excited about the next part of the season!"

The Ephs will next take the court after winter vacation, when they challenge Harvard on Tuesday, January 7^th on their home courts in their first match of 2014. 

Individual Results vs. Yale:

Individual Results vs. Colby:

Individual Results vs. St. Lawrence: