HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's squash team has announced its 2019-20 schedule. The regular season includes five home matches inside the GIAC Squash Courts, beginning with a December 7 home contest against St. Lawrence.
The action begins on November 1 as the Fords host Swarthmore in an exhibition match. The contest is slated to begin at 5:30 p.m.
The Fords then head to the Navy Round Robin to face off with Johns Hopkins and Georgetown on November 9 as the season begins in earnest. The Fords have faced off with the Blue Jays in each of the last three Navy Round Robin groupings, going 3-0 without allowing an individual match in that stretch.
In total, the Fords are unblemished in the last four meetings with Johns Hopkins. The Fords have been more evenly matched with Georgetown in recent meetings, besting the Hoyas by a 6-3 final in 2018 after a narrow CSA Team Championships loss in 2017.
The annual Alumnae Match is on tap for Saturday, November 16, before the Fords head to Vassar to face off with the host Brewers as well as NESCAC side Connecticut College. Haverford has won its last two matchups with Vassar, including an 8-1 triumph at home on January 26 of last season.
A Saturday night (Dec. 7) matchup at home against St. Lawrence is the final match of 2019, as the Fords will face off with the Saints for the first time since the 2000-01 season. The 2020 portion of the season begins with another contest against Connecticut College, this time in The Bronx on the campus of Fordham, as the Fords take on the Camels and then duel with Hamilton on January 18.
The Pioneer Valley Invitational is slated for the final weekend in January (Jan. 25-26), with Amherst serving as the primary host of the annual clash of squash titans in Western Massachusetts. Details including opponents and game times are still to be announced.
The Fords open February with home contests against Richmond and Vassar (Feb. 1) before also hosting Denison and Bucknell (Feb. 8) on Senior Day at the GIAC Squash Courts. The final weekend of regular season action sees the Fords head to Dickinson for the second annual Centennial Conference Round Robin also featuring Dickinson, Johns Hopkins, and Franklin & Marshall in action in Carlisle.
The CSA Team Championships are slated for February 21-23 while the CSA Individual Championships will be held from March 6-8. Locations for the championships are still to be determined.
The Fords finished the 2018-19 season with their most victories in a single season (9) since the 2014-15 campaign. Haverford took the No. 28 overall ranking into the offseason, the best year-end ranking for the women's squad since the 2005-06 season. A young squad will get another chance to grow as the program reaches for even greater heights in 2019-20 after a season in which the Fords began to emerge more fully in the national spotlight.
Co-captain and last year's top flight player, Kaitlin Reese, returns for her senior season with the steadying presence needed to help set the culture and expectations for a talented group of returners. Reese (31 wins entering 2019-20) will take aim at Haverford's all-time career wins' record of 38, and the clear goal for Haverford will be a division title at the CSA Team Championships in February.