MIDDLEBURY, Vt. - The #16 Williams College women's squash team dropped a 7-2 result at #14 Middlebury College on Saturday afternoon, with junior captain Anika Kakarla and first-year Alicia Chen earning the two victories for the Ephs.
Williams will look forward to a potential rematch with the Panthers in either or both of the NESCAC Championships and the College Squash Association Team Nationals, as the match was tight and could have gone either way. Three of the Williams losses were in 3-2 matches, and another two were 3-1.
Kakarla, playing at #7, won her first game 15-13, but found herself down two games to one after three games. The junior fought back to win the final two games by relatively comfortable margins, 11-6 and 11-4, to take the win. Chen, at #8, dropped the first game 12-10, but then ran off three straight game wins to take the match, winning 11-4, 11-6, 11-8.
The Ephs who lost in five games included Rachel Miller at #5, Roshni Pal at #6, and Mahika Gupta at #9. Frances Brooks at #3 and Sophia Koehler at #4 each lost 3-1. Middlebury used the strength at the top of its lineup to top Rhea Pandit and Melanie Wang.
Williams has a pair of important NESCAC matches coming this week, looking to spring upsets first at #10 Amherst on Wednesday before traveling to #11 Tufts on Saturday.Â
