The men’s and women’s squash teams both went 3-1 on the weekend to finish fifth at the NESCAC Championships. For the men, who came in seeded seventh in the conference, it was an impressive finish that included upsets of Wesleyan and Bowdoin. For the women, it was an expected result as they were seeded fifth in the NESCAC coming into the tournament.
While the women did not play on Friday night, the men began their tournament with a 7-2 defeat over Conn. College, an easier affair than the teams’ previous matchup that the Jeffs squeaked out, 5-4. The following day, both the men’s and women’s teams fell. The men, facing No. 2-ranked Williams, were swept 9-0 while the women, facing No. 4-ranked Bates, fell 8-1. First-year sensation Taryn Clary continuted her impressive rookie season, tallying the only win for her team.
Both teams were able to regroup in the consolation round. The fifth-seeded women, who beat Hamilton 8-1 in the regular season, easily handled the eight-seeded Continentals 7-2 to advance to the fifth/sixth place match. The men, who had previously fallen twice to Wesleyan in the regular season, recorded their marquee win of the season by defeating Wesleyan 5-4 in a hotly contested match. Noah Browne’ 16 pulled out a much needed win at no. 1 for the Jeffs. Alex Southmayd ’15, Max Kardon ’15, Steve Cacouris ’16 and Jake Albert ’15 all tallied victories as well.
Scott DeSantis ’15 was “elated” with the victory and called it the “best win of the season.” Captain Nick Sorrentino ’13 agreed. “This weekend was a great success for us,” he said.
The men and women kept it rolling in their respective fifth-place matches on Sunday. The men upset fifth-ranked Bowdoin 7-2 to take fifth in the conference, especially noteworthy as the Polar Bears had previously defeated the Jeffs 8-1 in the regular season. The women downed Wesleyan, 8-1, to finish fifth as well.
“This past weekend, we had a good showing at NESCAC’s, finishing fifth, which is what we were ranked entering into the tournament,” captain Mary Katherine McNeill ’13 said. “After suffering a tough loss to Bates in the quarterfinals, we had two solid wins over Hamilton and Wesleyan who are ranked only a few spots below us.”
The teams next will compete in the Div. III Invitational at Bowdoin. It will be a high level as play as each Div. III team sends their three top players to the tournament. For the Jeffs, Browne, captain Charles Loesch-Quentin ’13 and DeSantis will represent the men’s team while Chandler Lusardi ’13, Anne Piper ’13 and Arielle Lehman ’15 will travel for the women.
Closing out the season, both teams will compete in their respective national postseason tournaments. “We are looking forward to training over the next two weeks for the final national tournament, and we believe our success will carry over from this NESCAC success and lead us to further success there,” Sorrentino said. McNeill also sounds confident heading into the postseason. “We’re looking to continue to improve our ranking,” she said.
