Ephs Finish 4th in Kurtz Cup

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Women's squash finished their season with a final ranking of number 12 in the country after coming in fourth place in the Kurtz Cup (B Division). The Ephs fell to Brown 7-2 on Sunday afternoon in the last match of the tournament and ended their season with a final record of 15-10.

Co-captain Ellie O'Neill reflected fondly on the season, saying, "it was an unbelievable season with so many ups and not many downs. While we couldn't pull through with a win versus Brown, we still played well and our final ranking is something we have to be proud of."

Because of the weather conditions, the Williams match versus Brown was postponed until 5:30 pm and was played using the five-court system. The first round consisted of the even numbered matches, Hayley Parsons (#2), Nicole Feshbach (#4), Ellen Coombe (#6) and Alyssa Ritchie (#8).

Parsons started off her match losing a tight first game 12-10 and then dropping the second game as well. The Eph freshman fought back to take the third game, but then eventually fell 11-8 in the fourth game. Meanwhile, Ritchie managed to rebound from an 11-9 defeat in the first game of her match with an 11-9 victory in the second game. In similar fashion to Parsons, however, Ritchie lost to her Brown opponent 3-1.

Ellen Coombe (#6) had a tough matchup and a close first game, but was defeated 3-0. Nicole Feshbach (#4) dropped her first game as well but took the second 12-10. Brown took the third game, and after trading points all throughout the fourth game, her opponent finished the match in four games with an 11-9 victory.

After the first round of matches, an upset was not looking promising for the Ephs, as they were down 4-0 and would have had to sweep the second round of matches. Nicole Friedman battled hard at the number 1 position, but lost 3-0 to her opponent. This gave Brown the win, but there were still matches to finish.

Co-captain Caroline Sawin (#5), playing in her last match for Williams, was the first Eph off court with a victory for Williams. Sawin stormed out to a 2-0 lead in the match, but her opponent made the Eph senior work for the victory by winning the third game. Sawin refused to let her force a fifth game though and defeated her adversary handily 11-3 in the fourth.

Charlotte Walsh (#7) traded games with her opponent in a tight match. After coming back from being down 2-1 and forcing a fifth game, Walsh just missed from completing the comeback, falling 12-10 in the fifth game. Ananya Mahalingam-Dhingra (#9) started off her match strong with two narrow wins in the first games. The Brown number 9 took the next game 12-10 and then won the fourth to force the tiebreaking fifth game. Mahalingam-Dhingra composed herself and closed out the match 14-12 in the fifth. The Eph freshman had the best individual record for the season: going 15-4 for the year. 

Last playing was co-captain O'Neill (#3), who along with Sawin, was playing in her last match of her Williams career. O'Neill took control of the match in the beginning, winning the first 12-10 and the second 11-3. Her Brown opponent stepped up to the challenge and followed with two game wins of her own to tie the score at 2-2. O'Neill battled until the end, but suffered an 11-7 defeat in the fifth game.

"I was really pleased with our team's performance this weekend," commented head coach Zafi Levy. "We have played hard all season long while frequently challenging the top teams in the country and this weekend was no different. On Friday, we had to play Middlebury for the third time in three weeks. Each time we played Midd this season, we have beaten them by greater margins. Our ladies just played hard and refused to lose."

"In both matches versus Dartmouth and Brown, we had real opportunities to win the match, but we just came short in key matches," continued Levy. "Our seniors, Caroline Sawin and Ellie O'Neill, have been a tremendous force both on and off the court. They have led us all season long with great performances on the court and leadership abilities off the court. We will miss them greatly next year."

"This was an incredible season," added Sawin. "We accomplished so many of our goals and everyone truly improved. Even though we lost our last two matches, we challenged teams ranked above us and the team played with a lot of heart."

The goals that Sawin alluded to included key regular season wins versus rivals Bates, Middlebury, Drexel and F&M; their 15^th consecutive Little Three Championship; and an appearance in the finals of the NESCAC Championships.

"All in all, our team grew as the season went by and we improved week by week," concluded Levy. "I am already really looking forward to next season!"

Individual Scores vs. Brown: