PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Haverford College men's and women's squash programs were well represented at the College Squash Association (CSA) Individual Championships in Providence on Friday, with sophomore Davis Chase and junior Kaitlin Reese each battling in a pair of matches against some of the best competition in the nation.
Chase was immediately thrust into a battle, as he drew the top player from No. 9 Cornell in Andrew Muran for the Molloy Cup Round of 16 matchup. Chase battled, falling in three games, 11-0, 11-2, 11-8. In the consolation quarterfinal round, Chase faced off with the top player from No. 19 Middlebury, Justin Ghaeli. Ghaeli took an 11-2 win in the first game, but Chase made his opponent fight for an 11-9 victory in the second. In the third, Chase took the battle to extra points, before Ghaeli clinched the match with a 12-10 win.
Chase ends his sophomore campaign with a 13-6 record. The Pomfret, Conn. product will enter his junior campaign with the fifth-best winning percentage in program history among players with at least 15 wins (.639).
Reese faced off with a tough opponent in her first match of the day, as No. 22 Mount Holyoke's number one player, Mihiliya Kalahe Arachchige, awaited in the Holleran Cup Round of 16. The two had previously met at the top flight during the Pioneer Valley Invitational in January, and Kalahe Arachchige came away with victory in the March rematch, with an 11-2, 11-3, 11-3 decision over Reese.
The afternoon matchup saw Reese matched with Emily Woodworth of No. 11 Virginia in the consolation quarterfinal. Woodworth, who played at the third flight for the Cavaliers during last weekend's CSA Team Championships, took a hard-fought 11-8 decision in the first game before consecutive 11-2 victories in the second and third games.
Co-captain Reese finishes her junior campaign with an 11-9 record. The Charlottesville, Va. product will enter her senior campaign just six wins away from tying the Haverford career record for victories, as she currently sits in sixth place all-time with 32 wins.
Both programs will now await the release of the CSA Scholar Athletes, expected to be released later this month.