Waterville, ME – This afternoon, the Williams women's squash team wrapped up their weekend in Maine at Colby. Coming off of two big wins, the Ephs were feeling confident but fatigued. They powered through and took down the Mules 7-2.
The Ephs got off to a slow start this afternoon but didn't let that stop them. #7
Nora Brant managed to place the first point on the board after dropping her first game 11-9. She picked up the intensity and cleaned up her game to knock out the second, third, and fourth games. Across the room, #2
Quan Ng and #4
Mira Kamat were entrenched in five-game battles. Like Brant, Kamat fell behind early. Her fierce competitive spirit allowed her to tie to up the match 2-2, but her Mule opponent's fast pace gave Colby the victory at 11-9 in the fifth. Ng traded games with her opponent. Despite winning the first game 11-3 and fourth 11-6, the Eph captain was unable to close the match.
With the Ephs down 2-1 after one round, there was tension building throughout the team. #3
Theresa Kay, #6
Deena Iqbal, and #9
Isabel Kelly utilized this tension to all take down their opponents in straight games. Kelly focused on moving her opponent around the court to get her victory. Similarly, Iqbal focused on forcing her competition from side-to-side, particularly with low hard crosscourt shots. On top court, Kay chased down every ball to prevent her opponent from getting a single game.
Their score was now 4-2 with 3 matches left to play. #8
Roshni Pal played another efficient, strategic match to secure the match for the Ephs. In trend with the rest of the day, #5
Amanda Solecki took off slowly and lost the first 13-11. She kept her head down, found her length, and cut the ball off to dominate the second, third, and fourth games.
In the final and most magnificent match of the day and season, #1
Haley Jefferson faced off against the 2022 NESCAC Rookie of the Year. She refused to let her opponent's accolades intimidate her and stepped on court with full confidence. During the five-game match, Jefferson alternated between targeting the backhand back corner and the front of the court to win games 2, 4, and ultimately 5.
After the match, Head Coach
Zafi Levy commented "Our women's team performed well this weekend. For the most part we have played well but we need to keep Improving in the coming weeks to reach peak performance in early February. One of our best performances of the season thus far was Haley's win today vs Colby #1, a second team All-American.
Quan Ng and
Theresa Kay, also played well this weekend, winning some close matches."
With the win over Colby the Ephs have manufactured a 6-match win streak.
The Ephs are heading back to Williamstown to continue training for their home opener against Middlebury on Thursday at 5 pm. They're looking forward to playing in front of the support of a home crowd.
