Women's Squash Fall To Top-Ranked Yale and Stanford

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT – The Ephs faced two extremely difficult opponents today at the Yale invitational, falling to Stanford (ranked fourth in the country) 7-2 and Yale (ranked sixth) 9-0. 

The team began the day by facing the Yale Bulldogs on their home courts. The match followed the five court system, with even-numbered players Alyssa Ritchie (#10), co-captain Lily Grant (#8), Ellen Coombe (#6), Ananya Mahalingam-Dhingra (#4), and Hayley Parsons (#2) on court first. Ritchie, Coombe, Mahalingam-Dhingra, and Parsons all fell in three games, despite fighting hard against their skilled opponents. Grant, despite losing the first game 11-4, came back to win the second 11-9, although eventually fell to her opponent in four games. Next on court were Caroline Hogan (#9), Charlotte Walsh (#7), Esther Baek (#5), co-captain Nicole Feshbach (#3), and Nicole Friedman (#1). Following the example of their teammates, these Ephs fought hard but eventually fell to the Bulldogs 9-0. Freshman Esther Baek had a particularly tight match, playing long rallies of excellent squash, despite eventually losing in the fifth game.

The Ephs then faced the Stanford team in the evening, again on the Yale courts. Despite playing a very strong team, the Ephs showed their prowess on court and came away with two matches and multiple games. The match again followed the five-court system; the first round had Alyssa Ritchie (#10), co-captain Lily Grant (#8), Ellen Coombe (#6), Ananya Mahalingam-Dhingra (#4), and Hayley Parsons (#2) on court. Grant dominated her opponent start to finish, defeating her opponent in three games. Ritchie, Coombe, Mahalingam-Dhingra, and Parsons all had extremely close games with their opponents, but eventually fell in three games. Caroline Hogan (#9) was the next to gain a point for the Ephs, coming back and winning in four games against her opponent despite losing 11-0 in the first. Charlotte Walsh (#7), Esther Baek (#5), co-captain Nicole Feshbach (#3), and Nicole Friedman (#1) all had similar tight matches, with Walsh, Feshbach, and Friedman all getting games off of their opponents.

Co-captain Feshbach was extremely pleased with the opponents, commenting, "We faced two very strong teams today. It's a great experience to play these types of matches and it will help us going forward. We are excited for tomorrow when we hope to win our 17^th consecutive Little Three Title. Then on Tuesday we have one of our most important matches of the season against Brown. I'm confident that if we played like we did today we can accomplish our Little Three goal and then go on to defeat Brown for the first time in many years."

Head coach Levy echoed her statements, saying, "It has been a good start for a busy weekend. The ladies competed hard against two of the best teams in the nation. I was pleased with the level of commitment today. We have two hard matches tomorrow and we look forward to defending out Little Three title for the 17^th year in a row."

The Ephs face Wesleyan tomorrow 11am and Amherst at 3pm as the hosts of the Little Three Championship. They will then travel to Providence to face Brown on Tuesday in one of their most pivotal matches of the season.

INDIVIDUAL SCORES FOR STANFORD TO COME.