Sports
Women’s squash sweeps at home
By Paige Engeldrum '13, Sports Contributor
February 16, 2012
The men’s and women’s squash teams continue to press on with their demanding and recurrent schedules.
On Jan. 26 the women exhibited their talent in defeating St. Lawrence 8-1 in Canton, NY. Everybody but Amanda Thorman ’13, who played in the top of the lineup, beat their opponent in shutout fashion.
The following weekend, the Continentals travelled to Trinity College to play in the highly anticipated NESCAC Championships. The team entered the tournament ranked fifth out of 11 teams, giving them a bye directly into the quarterfinals. On Feb. 4, fourth-seeded Middlebury defeated Hamilton, placing them in a consolation round later that evening against eighth-seeded Wesleyan. The combined victories by Hilary Gray ’15, Claire Corroon ’13, Alyssa Bawden ’12, Hannah Coffin ’14, Izzy Weisman ’15, Elizabeth Morris ’15 and Katie Rogers ’14 led Hamilton to a 7-2 victory and further in their fight for fifth place in the NESCAC. A day later, the Continentals defeated seventh-seeded Bowdoin 6-3. In a two game deficit, Gray came from behind to defeat her opponent in the second position. Corroon and Bawden also added to the victory in the third and fourth positions, respectively. In the seventh, eighth and ninth positions, Kelsey Bogle ’14, Morris and Katherine Rogers ’14 rounded out the team’s victory, claiming fifth place in the NESCAC.
The following Wednesday, Gray had the lone victory for Hamilton in their 1-8 loss against Middlebury.
After such a difficult loss, the team rebounded to win all three weekend matches, proving nobody could beat this team at home. They kicked off the weekend with a 9-0 victory over William Smith College. Later that day, the team hosted Colgate, who they also defeated 9-0. Finally, the team wrapped up a successful weekend in defeating 22nd nationaly-ranked Connecticut College 8-1 the following day. Several women continued to post shutout individual victories; Bogle, Weisman, Morris and Rogers all swept their opponents from William Smith and Connecticut College. In the match against Colgate, Bawden shut out her opponent in the second position, and Hillary Kolodner ’14 and Annabel Prouty ’13 helped round out the victory in the eighth and ninth positions.
With demanding and strenuous matches under their belts, the team looks forward to a brief break in the coming weeks to prepare for the Howe Cup Championship, a national intercollegiate tournament, on the weekend of Feb. 24 at Harvard University.
On Jan. 26, the men’s team travelled to play 12th nationally-ranked St. Lawrence University. The match proved to be a difficult feat and resulted in a 0-9 Hamilton loss. Despite facing such drastic defeat, the team had no choice but to look ahead to the upcoming NESCAC Championship.
The following weekend, the eighth-seeded Continentals ventured to Trinity College to play ninth-seeded Wesleyan in the first round of the Championship. After being edged 3-6, the team moved to the consolation bracket where the team faced seventh-seeded Colby College and 11th-seeded Tufts University.
The Continentals upset Colby, defeating them 5-4. Martin Bawden ’14, Alex Wood ’12, Teddy Black ’15, Peter Harrison ’15 and Timothy Gray ’12 all contributed to the victory that helped Hamilton qualify to play in a second consolation round against Tufts. The team continued to excel, coasting past eleventh-seeded Tufts 7-2; with the exception of the top two players in the lineup, everyone defeated their opponents. Gray added his third victory of the tournament at the ninth position, while Wood, Black, Harrison and Ted Nehrbas ’15 all improved their tournament record to two victories.
Wood’s noteworthy victory against Tufts tied him for fifth place on Hamilton’s all-time wins list. Harry Keeshan ’13 and Ronald German ’13 also contributed to the victory in the fourth and seventh positions, respectively.
This past week, the team hosted Middlebury College, Hobart College and Connecticut College at the Little Squash Center. After an unfortunate 0-9 loss to Middlebury, one of the best teams in the country, the team rebounded with an 8-1 victory over Hobart on Feb. 11. Cooper Veysey ’12, Wood and Gray each shutout their opponents in the first, third and ninth positions.
Unfortunately, the team ended the weekend with a hard fought 4-5 loss to Connecticut College.
The Continentals will not compete until Feb. 17 in the CSA Men’s Championship at Princeton University, allowing the team time to recuperate from a hectic and taxing past few weeks. They will also spend time evaluating what needs to be worked on to achieve success in the coming championship.