For Immediate Release
February 2, 2008
Wellesley Sports Information
Courtesy Smith Sports Information
Mount Holyoke Takes Seven Sisters Squash Championship; Blue Go 1-1
Northampton, MA - Wellesley returned to Northampton, Massachusetts this weekend for the Seven Sisters Championships at Smith College. Bottom seed Smith College faced top seed Mt. Holyoke in the first round at 10:00 am, while the second seeded Wellesley Blue faced the third seeded Brewers of Vassar College at 12:00 pm.
Wellesley went into the match against Vassar with high hopes. Wellesley is currently ranked 20th in the nation and Vassar is ranked 26th. But, the Brewers had been missing no. 1 Emilie Kraft and no. 2 Nadia Jihad for the first half of the season. The Blue knew not to underestimate the Vassar squad. Vassar quickly picked off all of the even matches, surging to a 4-0 lead. It would be up to the odd numbered players to lead Wellesley to a win. Jackie Shaw fought hard at the no. 3 flight to win her first game 10/8, but it was not enough to hold off Vassar’s Amalia Sax-Bolder who beat Shaw 3-1. Natalie Chen, at the no. 5 flight, fought a hard five game match against the Brewer’s Anna Licht. Chen won the first game 9/5, playing a smart game of long rails followed by drops as she caught her opponent in the back corners. It ended up not being enough as Licht took the match 3-2. It seemed that Ashley Stevens would come out ahead at the no. 9 flight, scoring a win for the Blue. She too went five games and lost to Vassar’s Lorrette Fischer. The Blue were beaten by the Brewers 9-0.
Head Coach Wendy Berry gathered the team together before taking on Smith for 3rd position. The team agreed to leave the morning’s results on the court and pulled together to once again finish off Smith. And finish off Smith they did, beating the Pioneers 8-1. Wellesley’s no. 1 Sarah Odell played a long and grueling five game match against Smith’s Kate Whitesell. Odell and Whitesell tested each other’s court savvy and fitness. Whitesell was able to hold her shots and use deception while Odell crossed the ball forcing her opponent to change direction. Eventually, after bringing it to 2-2 in the fourth game, Odell fell to Whitesell 9/5 in the fifth.
The Blue enjoyed spending the day with fellow sister colleges and look forward to seeing many of their opponents at the Howe Cup Championship at Princeton University on February 22-24,2008.
Wellesley will take to the courts again February 9 against Colby College at 11:00 am at MIT and Sunday, February 10 against Columbia University at 11:00 am at the Dana Hall School.
More photos from the tournament can be found here:
Western Mass Squash
Mount Holyoke def. Smith, 9-0
1. Pamela Anckermann (MHC) def. Kate Whitesell (SMI), 3-0 (9-2, 9-1, 9-0)
2. Menusha Hettiarachchi (MHC) def. Sara Smyth (SMI), 3-0 (9-1, 9-0, 9-0)
3. Vidushi Gurunada (MHC) def. Huong Nguyen (SMI), 3-0 (9-0, 9-0, 9-0)
4. Laura Robinson (MHC) def. Meg Oliverio (SMI), 3-0 (9-0, 9-1, 9-0)
5. Laurian Lue Yen (MHC) def. Alice Reznickova (SMI), 3-0 (9-0, 9-0, 9-1)
6. Elizabeth Wright (MHC) def. Julia Voorhees (SMI), 3-0 (9-3, 9-0, 9-0)
7. Pia Seth (MHC) def. Judy Liu (SMI), 3-0 (9-1, 9-1, 9-0)
8. Hillela Simpson (MHC) def. Jasmine Wallas (SMI), 3-0 (9-1, 9-5, 9-0)
9. Lila Khan (MHC) def. Kelsey Radwilowicz (SMI), 3-0 (9-0, 9-0, 9-2)
10. Sonali Lapin (MHC) def. Elizabeth Hughes (SMI), 3-0 (9-2, 9-1, 9-0)
Vassar def. Wellesley, 9-0
1. Emilie Kraft (VAS) def. Sarah Odell (WEL), 3-0 (9-5, 9-1, 9-0)
2. Nadia Jihad (VAS) def. Ayako Kubodera (WEL), 3-0 (9-2, 9-2, 9-5)
3. Amalia Sax-Bolder (VAS) def. Jackie Shaw (WEL), 3-1 (8-10, 9-0, 9-3, 9-2)
4. Eleanor Weiss (VAS) def. Caroline Tall (WEL), 3-0 (9-0, 9-1, 9-10)
5. Anna Licht (VAS) def. Natalie Chen (WEL), 3-2 (9-5, 7-9, 4-9, 9-4, 9-2)
6. Hope Blinkoff (VAS) def. Geraldine Ng (WEL), 3-0 (9-1, 9-0, 9-5)
7. Courtney Burks (VAS) def. Oly Fernando (WEL), 3-0 (9-0, 9-2, 9-0)
8. Anna Robinson (VAS) def. Sam Chu (WEL), 3-0 (9-5, 9-7, 9-0)
9. Lorrette Fisher (VAS) def. Ashley Stevens (WEL), 3-2 (5-9, 9-5, 9-2, 4-9, 9-4)
10. Laura Stevens (WEL) def. Olivia Mak (VAS), 3-0 (9-4, 9-2, 9-0)
Wellesley def. Smith, 8-1
1. Kate Whitesell (SMI) def. Sarah Odell (WEL), 3-2 (5-9, 9-3, 9-7, 6-9, 9-5)
2. Ayako Kubodera (WEL) def. Sara Smyth (SMI), 3-0 (9-1, 10-8, 9-5)
3. Jackie Shaw (WEL) def. Huong Nguyen (SMI), 3-0 (9-3, 9-2, 9-3)
4. Caroline Tall (WEL) def. Meg Oliverio (SMI), 3-0 (9-2, 9-6, 9-2)
5. Natalie Chen (WEL) def. Alice Reznickova (SMI), 3-0 (9-1, 9-0, 9-0)
6. Geraldine Ng (WEL) def. Julia Voorhees (SMI), 3-0 (9-1, 9-0, 9-3)
7. Oly Fernando (WEL) def. Judy Liu (SMI) 3-0 (9-6, 9-4, 9-4)
8. Sam Chu (WEL) def. Jasmine Wallas (SMI), 3-0 (9-1, 9-3, 9-0)
9. Ashley Stevens (WEL) def. Kelsey Radwilowicz (SMI), 3-0 (9-1, 9-0, 9-1)
10. Laura Stevens (WEL) def. Elizabeth Hughes (SMI), 3-0 (9-1, 9-3, 9-3)
Mount Holyoke def. Vassar, 7-2
1. Pamela Anckermann (MHC) def. Emilie Kraft (VAS), 3-0 (9-1, 9-4, 9-5)
2. Menusha Hettiarachchi (MHC) def. Nadia Jihad (VAS), 3-0 (9-2, 9-1, 9-1)
3. Vidushi Gurunada (MHC) def. Amalia Sax-Bolder (VAS), 3-0 (9-1, 9-1, 9-2)
4. Laura Robinson (MHC) def. Eleanor Weiss (VAS), 3-0 (9-7, 9-2, 9-2)
5. Laurian Lue Yen (MHC) def. Anna Licht (VAS), 3-0 (9-2, 9-4, 9-3)
6. Elizabeth Wright (MHC) def. Hope Blinkoff (VAS), 3-0 (9-3, 9-2, 9-1)
7. Pia Seth (MHC) def. Courtney Burks (VAS), 3-0 (10-9, 9-4, 9-2)
8. Anna Robinson (VAS) def. Hillela Simpson (MHC), 3-2 (5-9, 1-9, 9-1, 9-2, 9-1)
9. Lorrette Fisher (VAS) def. Lila Khan (MHC), 3-0 (9-7, 9-7, 9-1)
10. Sonali Lapin (MHC) def. Olivia Mak (VAS), 3-0, (9-1, 9-6, 9-6)
