AMHERST, Mass. – The Haverford College women's squash team completed play at the Pioneer Valley Invitational Sunday afternoon with 9-0 losses to 21st-ranked Tufts University and 13th-ranked Mount Holyoke College.
A quartet of Fords(2-11) showed their unwavering determination by taking Tufts (6-6) to five-game decisions in spots 5-8. Randee Johnson at No.5 pulled out a marathon win, 15-13, in game three before falling in five. Roxanne Jaffe, at No.6, rallied to win games three and four, after facing a two game deficit, before Hafsa Chaudhry squeaked by 15-13 in the final game to take the match. Despite dropping a tight game one, 13-11, Alisa Strayer dug deep at No.7 to claim games two and three before narrowly losing game five, 14-12. And Zoe Becker followed suit at No.8 as she took a 2-0 advantage, highlighted by a 12-10 battle in game two, before falling in the next three.
The final score was not indicative of the effort as Caroline Nightingale at No.1 pulled out game two, after a game one loss, to show the resilient Fords would not go down without a fight.
Mount Holyoke (8-5) continued its strong season as the 32nd-ranked Fords found points difficult to come by against the Lyons. Despite defeat, Jaffe at No.6, and Strayer, playing at No.7, came up with strong showings to cap the weekend.
Haverford hosts its alumnae matches Saturday at the Gardener Integrated Athletic Center at 1 p.m.