POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The No. 29 Haverford College women's squash team (3-1) split the day on the campus of Vassar College, falling to No. 24 Connecticut College by a 6-3 final in a neutral site match, before outlasting the host No. 30 Brewers by a 7-2 final in the late afternoon contest at Kenyon Hall.
Connecticut College 6, Haverford 3
In a tightly-contested battle, Kaitlin Reese swiftly dispatched Margaret Davy at the top flight (13-11, 11-3, 11-6), before Sophie Jackson collected Haverford's second win of the day with a tidy 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 sweep of Leslie Gonzalez at the ninth flight, putting two crucial tallies towards Haverford's ledger in the early goings of the afternoon.
Urgyen Wangmo lost a see-saw fight at the fifth flight, taking the first and third games before Johanile Hurtado prevailed in five to strike back for Connecticut. Caroline Smith was right with Mikayla Waterhouse despite falling in three at the eighth, allowing Connecticut to tie the overall match at 2-2. Shreya Singh was defeated by Denise Bonilla in straight games at the third spot, and Tia Brown fell in four games at the sixth flight, taking her opponent Liliana Vazquez to extra points in two of the games, including a 14-12 third-game triumph to extend the match.
Sunny Chai was later locked in a fight at the fourth spot on the ladder, falling to Davis Lemay after staving off elimination with a spirited 11-9 victory in the third. Maisie Smith took her opponent Birgitta Quinn to extra points in the opening game before falling in four at the seventh flight, and Isabelle Johnson then collected Haverford's third overall win of the day with a strong performance against Molly Carabatsos (11-8, 11-3, 11-7).
In a spirited series that has seen Haverford inch ever closer to toppling the Camels in recent matchups, Haverford will look to get into the win column in the rematch, which is slated for January 18 at Fordham.
Haverford 7, Vassar 2
Against host Vassar, the Fords got victories at the first flight from Reese, who came back from down two games to none, storming past Claire Coss in five (10-12, 7-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-9) in an emphatic showing. Wangmo delivered a big win at the fifth spot, a four-game trial with Nicole Pihlstrom (11-4, 7-11, 11-6, 12-10). Caroline Smith then took a straight-game victory over Odie Berkson (11-8, 11-6, 11-8) with relative ease at the eighth.
With Haverford up 3-0 at the end of the first round of matches, a quick victory from Johnson at the second flight helped set the tone for the second grouping, as the sophomore swept past Claire Weiss (11-13, 11-4, 11-7). Brown also swept her opponent, grabbing an 11-5, 13-11, 12-10 triumph over Isabel Bronson at the sixth flight. Jackson made quick work of Lucie Bisbee at the ninth (11-4, 11-2, 11-7).
Vassar got its victories with the match already decided in favor of Haverford, as Sydney Nemphos and Alexanda Pilkington were winners over Singh and Chai at the third and fourth flights, respectively. Chai took her opponent to five games after dropping a marathon 17-15 first game that served as a prelude to an entertaining match. Maisie Smith prevailed in four over Samantha Henderson (10-12, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5).
The Fords have now won three in a row over Vassar. Reese has 35 career victories, as she continues to take aim at the top of Haverford's overall career wins leaderboard. The senior is just two wins away from tying a pair of former teammates as Isabel Agnew '17 and Isabelle Gotuaco '18 are currently tied for second all-time with 37 career victories.
Women's Squash will now have next weekend off for the Thanksgiving holiday, and will return to action on Saturday, December 7, squaring off with No. 27 St. Lawrence at 6 p.m. The night match at the GIAC Squash Courts is the first meeting between the two programs since the 2000-01 season.