The Amherst men’s squash team competed in the MCSA National Team Championships Feb. 20-22. The 24th-ranked Lord Jeffs team competed in the Summers Cup (C Division) hosted by Wesleyan.
The tournament opened on Friday with the Jeffs playing against NESCAC rival No. 17 Middlebury. The purple and white fell to the Panthers 8-1 in their second matchup of the season.
Traveling to Harvard to defend their national title, the Amherst women’s squash team again emerged victorious. Harvard and MIT both hosted the 2015 women’s national team Championship, in which 44 teams from six different divisions competed in separate cups. Amherst played in the Walker Cup (C Division), against similarly ranked teams.
Women
Women’s squash kicked off the week with a strong start against Mt. Holyoke on Wednesday Feb. 4, winning 8-1. This win propelled them into competition last weekend at the NESCAC championships hosted by Williams.
Saturday, Feb. 6 opened with tough play against Bates resulting in a 6-3 Amherst loss. Highlights included back and forth play on the fifth court by Ericka Robertson ’16. After falling in the first set the junior battled back to take the second, third and fifth to win the match overall.
The 2014 U.S. Open held some unbelievable competition for both the men and women. This year’s high-quality matches included a historic victory for Serena Williams, as she claimed her 18th Grand Slam title. Only three other women in the history of tennis have won more tennis major titles: Margaret Court (24), Steffi Graf (22) and Helen Wills Moody (19).
Women
The Amherst College Women’s Squash team handily defeated the host team Wesleyan 7-2 during the first day of play at the Little Three Championship. The 17th ranked Purple and White swept the 3rd to the 9th courts. Amherst’s top ranked players, Kimberly Krayacich ’18 and Arielle Lehman ’15 both fell in tough matches against their Wesleyan counterparts. After dropping her first set, Lehman won her second 13-11 and went on to play two more close sets (11-7 and 11-9) before falling to her opponent.
