Ephs Fall to Brown and Dartmouth

WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – Women's squash ended the regular season with two consecutive losses against Brown and Dartmouth. The Ephs had a tough week with two weekday matches. Williams traveled to Providence on Tuesday and then played their last match on their home courts against Dartmouth on Wednesday evening. Both ended in 9-0 losses for the women, however many players had close matches on both days.

The week started off against Brown, a team that always proves to be a tough and close match up for Williams. Playing the five- court system, first up to play were Maria Pylypiv (#8), Lily Grant (#6), Nicole Feshbach (#4) and co-captain Ellie O'Neill (#2). Pylypiv fell in three games to her opponent, but the three other first round players were all able to get a game off of their adversary. Grant was able to fend off her opponent after finding herself down 2-0, but lost the match 11-6 in the fourth game. Feshbach dropped the second, won the third 13-11, but then dropped the next two. O'Neill had a close match at the number two position. After losing the first game 12-10, O'Neill came back to win the second 11-8, but then fell 11-9 and 11-8 in the fourth and fifth games, respectively.

Next up to play came Charlotte Walsh (#9), Alyssa Ritchie (#7), Ellen Coombe (#5), Caroline Sawin (#3) and co-captain Alyssa Northrop (#1). Ritchie, Coombe and Sawin all lost to their opponents 3-0, but numbers one and nine both had thrilling five game matches. Walsh and Northrop both had a similar progression throughout the match, coming out of the gates strong with two quick victories. After finding herself up 2-0, Walsh dropped the next two but battled back in the fifth only to lose in a grueling 12-10 final game. Northrop also stormed to a 2-0 lead over her opponent, but was also unable to hold strong and was eventually defeated 11-8 in the fifth game.

The Ephs had little time to rest, with their next and last match coming less than 24 hours later. Back at home, Williams was ready to put up a fight against a strong Dartmouth team, and they did just that. First up to play came Walsh, Grant and Sawin at numbers 9, 6, and 3. Grant took early lead in the match, winning the first game, but her opponent did not waver and took the match in four games. Walsh and Sawin both fought hard but were each defeated in three games.

The second round brought numbers 8, 5 and 2 to the court. Pylypiv (#8) was defeated in three games, while Coombe (#5) and O'Neill (#2) each lost 3-1. Both Coombe and O'Neill followed Grant's lead to take the first game of their matches, but each fell in the end 3-1.

Last up came Ritchie (#7), Feshbach (#4) and Northrop (#1). Ritchie and Northrop each fought hard but their opponents proved too much for them and they each lost 3-0. Feshbach came the closest to scoring a point for the Ephs. After winning the first two games 12-10 each, her opponent managed to take the third 13-11 and then stormed away to force and win the fifth game.

 "I am very happy with the way the team played yesterday and today," commented head coach Zafi Levy. "Both Brown and Dartmouth are really strong teams but we were in most of the matches and could have won a few with a beat of luck."

Co-captain O'Neill agreed with Levy. "Our matches against Brown and Dartmouth showed that we are a tough team," added O'Neill. "Playing well in the last two matches of the regular season will give us great momentum going forward to finish strong at Nationals."

Women's squash will finish the 2013-14 season at Princeton at the Women's National Team Championships on the weekend of February 21^st. The Ephs will be seeded 7^th in the battle for the Kurtz Cup (B division).