LANCASTER, PA – Women's squash traveled to Lancaster to take on Franklin & Marshall on Friday evening. The Ephs came away with an important 8-1 victory over the Diplomats. Currently, Williams is number 12 in the College Squash Association rankings, and F&M is number 13 – making the win pivotal for positioning and seeding at the National Championships later in the season.
The women knew it would be difficult playing on the road and adjusting to new courts and a new system of match play, but were up for the challenge. With F&M's five-court system, the even numbered matches played first and the odds came after.
First up to play were Hayley Parsons (#2), Nicole Feshbach (#4), Ellen Coombe (#6) and Charlotte Walsh (#8). The Ephs were all ready to take on their opponents and ended up sweeping the first round of matches, starting off with a commanding 4-0 lead over F&M. None of the matches were extremely contested, with Parsons, Feshbach and Coombe coming away with 3-0 victories and Walsh with a 3-1 win.
With a 4-0 lead, the Ephs just needed to get one more point to clinch the five matches needed to win. Ananya Mahalingam-Dhingra (#9) was the player to do so with a decisive 3-0 victory over her opponent to give Williams the win for the day. The rest of the players were eager to send a message regarding the strength of this year's team and were able to come away with three more victories.
Alyssa Ritchie (#7) and co-captain Caroline Sawin (#5) followed suit in two three-game victories. Co-captain Ellie O'Neill (#3) and Nicole Friedman (#1) had two of the tougher matches of the day and were last on court for the Ephs. Friedman faced a tough F&M number 1 and fell in three close games. O'Neill, on the other hand, dominated the first game, only to then lose the next two and find herself down 2-1 in her match. Refusing to give up, O'Neill powered through the fourth and fifth games and was able to come out victorious over her F&M adversary.
"We knew F&M would be a tough match since they have improved from last year, but the team played great," commented Sawin. "Everyone fought hard for their wins and to make sure we remained in our spot in the rankings. Hopefully this match will give us some momentum going into tomorrow's tough match versus George Washington."
Williams will continue their road trip to Washington DC where they will take on George Washington and Georgetown at 11 am and 2:30 pm, respectively. The Eph women are riding a five match win streak going into tomorrow's contest.
Individual Scores to come:
