At Nationals, Squash Leaves the Wiser

Author: Alison Hertel

Holly Haertel '05, Sarah Herrup '02 and Casper Reske-Nielsen '02 traveled to Princeton University to face the tough competition of the Individual Squash Nationals, held Friday, March 1 to Sunday, March 3. Trinity College swept the individual squash nationals, with Amina Helal taking the women's crown and Bernardo Samper winning on the men's side.

Both Haertel and Herrup were in the B draw, a group of women consisting of players from all different schools who played anywhere from first to fifth seed on their respective team. Reske-Nielsen said, "I was very impressed by the level of play exhibited by our two women players."

In the first round Haertel fell to Princeton's Franny McKay in three games, dropping her to the consolation tournament. In the second round of play (the first round of the consolations) Haertel played a woman from Bates, winning in five games. Haertel did not fare so well in her next match however, falling to Brown's Ali Roche in four games. Coach David Saward said, "Holly had a tough weekend but had one win where she played well." Haertel said, "It was an incredible honor to go to nationals at Princeton this past weekend. I would have liked to make it further in the draw, however, I was pleased with my playing."

Herrup fared better than Haertel, making it to the quarterfinals of the consolations. Saward said, "Sarah played very well over the weekend, losing in the quarterfinals of the [Women's B Flight] Consolation tournament."

In the first year of the Middlebury men's squash team, they were able to send their number one player to the nationals. Reske-Nielsen said, "I did not make it very far [in the tournament]. In fact, I lost both my matches. However, it was fantastic to see the level of play that exists on the collegiate level." Saward said, "Casper fought hard and experienced a level of squash that really opened his eyes." Reske-Nielsen added, "I hope that Middlebury men's squash will continue to improve as it did in its first year.

All three players enjoyed the experience of nationals. Haertel said, "Seeing so many incredibly talented girls play this weekend inspired me to really try and improve my game and made me even more excited for next season."