Women Squash Opponents in Final Test Before Nationals

Author: Holly Haertel

Going into the last tournament of the season, the Middlebury women's squash team was boasting a record of 8-3 having only lost to Colby, Bowdoin and Amherst in the regular season. However, after traveling to Smith this past weekend, they have added three wins to their record. Having competed against Smith and Wesleyan on Friday night, the women beat both teams, 8-1 and 9-0 respectively. Despite facing a formidable Tufts squad on Saturday, the Panthers still managed to come out of the match unscathed, with a 9-0 victory. All three wins from this past weekend will help bring the women's team to a number 14 national ranking.
There were many notable matches throughout the weekend, beginning at the bottom of the ladder with newcomer Ashley Pullen '05, who made her debut this weekend after only a few weeks of practice. Playing in the number nine position, Gigi Gatewood, '03 had probably the toughest weekend, battling out two five-game matches on Friday night. She and her opponent from Wesleyan were very closely matched, but Gatewood pulled through with a 3-2 win.
Starting in the number seven and eight positions, first-years Caitlin Flint and Alexandra Polemis both had impressive and undefeated weekends. In the number six position Chrissie Fuld '03 had a tough match on Saturday against Tufts. She began down in the first game but was able to fight back and help the Panthers to a flawless finish. Lauren Smith '05 had a great match against the Smith captain and was able to pull through with a win. Eliza Funston '03, Beth Seeley '05 and Holly Haertel '05 who play in spots three, two and one respectively all had undefeated weekends.
Pullen commented, "As a new member of the team, I was very impressed by their performance last weekend at the match. Haertel's 3-2 victory against a tough Tufts number one was a great display of how hard each team member fought for every point."
This upcoming weekend the women will face their toughest competition yet, as they travel to the Howe Cup Intercollegiate Nationals that is held at Yale University every year. The women will enter the Howe Cup in the middle of the second division of four teams and will be matched up with teams they have already played in the regular season, such as Colby, Bowdoin, Amherst and Saint Lawrence. In addition, the Panthers will compete against some teams they have not played yet such as Cornell and Bates. The Panthers hope to use confidence from their recent success to propel them to victory as well as an impressive 11-3 record thus far.