CSA Team Championships Central
HARTFORD, Conn. - The No. 26 Haverford College women's squash team prevailed 7-2 over No. 31 Bucknell in an Epps Cup quarterfinal on the first day of College Squash Association (CSA) Team Championships action at Trinity College. The Fords (9-5) clinched the match early, taking a 5-0 lead before the Bison (11-3) grabbed a pair of wins with the result already in hand for Haverford.
The first round of matches to hit the court featured Maddie Hager dispatching Anna Hart in straight games (12-10, 11-7, 11-8) at the third flight, while Sunny Chai similarly blanked Liesel Ferguson in a 3-0 sweep (11-4, 11-9, 11-9). Eva Tamkin was locked in a battle with Lauren Nagel at the ninth flight, but prevailed after taking the first two games and rebounding for a fourth-game victory (11-8, 11-4, 9-11, 11-5).
Kaitlin Reese showed poise at the top flight, dispatching Kelly Clark while surrendering just 13 total points to her opponent (11-3, 11-5, 11-5). Reese picked up her 31st career win in the process, with 16 of those victories coming at the top flight. At the second flight, Isabelle Johnson similarly made quick work of Maeve Snover in a three-game triumph (11-7, 11-6, 11-6).
Urgyen Wangmo met a close match in Molly Horning at the fifth flight, as the first year was able to take a 14-12 victory in the first game but fell 11-7 in the second. Wangmo took over control of the match from that point forward, allowing just seven total points over the final two games for 11-4 and 11-3 victories.
The last match to finish featured Sophia Jackson fending off a tough challenge from Emma Stone at the seventh flight. Stone won the first game 11-6, but Jackson more than reversed that result in a resounding 11-5 victory in the second game. The third game went to Jackson in a see-saw 15-13 battle before she was able to post an 11-7 win in the fourth and final game to claim a seventh individual victory for Haverford.
Bucknell's Caroline Fakharzadeh was able to slip past Shreya Singh at the fourth spot despite Singh taking Fakharzadeh to the limit in all three individual games (11-9, 14-12, 16-14). Hannah Adler also showed poise in her defeat at the eighth flight, forcing Harriet Jones to extra points in the third game (11-8, 11-6, 12-10).
Haverford eclipsed its prior 6-3 win over Bucknell from earlier this month, and is now 5-3 all-time against the Bison.
The Fords will now advance to face the winner of the Georgetown/William Smith quarterfinal matchup that is slated for 4:30 p.m. Friday afternoon. The semifinal in Epps Cup competition is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. tomorrow.
Live streaming of select courts and live scoring for all matches is available on the 2019 CSA Women's Team National Championships tournament central page.