HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College women's squash team battled Boston College (BC) and Bucknell University on Saturday afternoon at the Gardner Integrated Athletic Center squash courts in the Fords' first home contests of 2014.
The top of the ladder played well for the Haverford (4-10) in the opening contest of the day as senior Caroline Nightingale, at No. 1, and sophomore Bethany Simmonds, at No. 3, earned the Fords' points in a 7-2 loss to 30th-ranked BC (2-5).
After Lilly Havens tied the match at 1-1, Nightingale registerd wins in games three and four to claim the 3-1 victory (11-7, 5-11, 11-8, 11-6).
Simmonds' match also went to four games as Caroline Whelan hung on for a narrow 12-10 game-three win. Undeterred by the setback, Simmonds persevered to edge Whelan, 13-11, in game four and close out the match (11-5, 11-8, 10-12, 13-11).
Junior Alex Love came close to giving the 32nd-ranked Fords another point with an impressive effort at No. 2 but Cassandra Burke hung on for the 3-2 victory (11-13, 11-6, 11-4, 7-11, 11-3).
Haverford closed out Saturday's action by taking on No. 43 Bucknell (1-3).
The Fords fell 6-3 to the Bison but the match was a lot closer than the score indicated as only two of the nine individual matches went the minimum three games.
Love, at No. 2, earned a 3-0 win (11-8, 11-7, 11-8) over Ellie Barker while Samara Flug and Rachael Garnick, at No. 6 and No. 9, respectively, each delivered tough 3-2 victories.
After Zoe Russell rallied to tie the score at 2-2, Flug came through with an 11-8 win in game five to take the match (11-6, 4-11, 11-9, 3-11, 11-8).
Garnick also shook off a game-four loss and registered a convincing 11-4 victory in the final game to register the win (11-4, 6-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-4) and account for Haverford's other point in the matchup against Bucknell.
The Fords host New York University and the University of Rochester next Saturday in the final regular-season contests of the year. The tri-match will be the final home appearance for seniors Nightingale and Allison Kandel.