POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Marking its first trip outside the state of Pennsylvania on Saturday, the 28th-ranked Haverford College women's squash team (2-2) earned a pair of momentous victories at Vassar College, prevailing in a neutral-site showdown against No. 29 Connecticut College by a 6-3 final before taking down the host No. 30 Brewers in a 9-0 sweep as College Squash Association (CSA) play continued.
#28 Haverford 6, #29 Connecticut College 3
In the early afternoon matchup against the Camels, Haverford took victories at the first six spots on the ladder to prevail over Connecticut College. The first round of matches to hit the court featured the Fords taking wins at the top two flights, with Ariana Solecki outlasting Rachel Matamoros at the top flight (11-7, 8-11, 11-5, 11-3) before Catherine Fortin prevailed in a five-game thriller against Isabel Schumacher (7-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4).
Caroline Smith and Emi Krishnamurthy then both prevailed in sweeps, with Smith dispatching Miranda Medina (11-8, 11-3, 11-9) at the fourth before Krishnamurthy made quick work of Karen Escalera at the third flight (11-2, 11-7, 11-7).
Lyvia Yan and Amelia Stevens then hit the court, with the duo both registering sweeps to send Haverford to a clinch. Yan prevailed at number five despite a strong challenge in the first and third games from Crystal Dixon (12-10, 11-3, 13-11), while Stevens had a relatively straightforward win at the sixth flight, taking down Angela Cao (11-6, 11-9, 11-4).
With the match already in hand for Haverford, A pair of five-game battles played out at the seventh and eighth flights, with Carolien Champa taking down Emilia Zegers after Zegers took the first game, and Kimberly Lucero similarly getting past Aman Hamdard after Hamdard grabbed wins in the first and third games.
Maya Johnson-Fraidin took her opponent to a fourth game at the ninth flight, staving off elimination with a third-game win over Tanya Mendoza.
#28 Haverford 9, #30 Vassar 0
Going toe-to-toe with the host Brewers in the late match at Kenyon Hall, the Fords notched a sweep. Solecki allowed just 17 total points, dispatching Emma Adams, while Fortin grabbed a come-from-behind win at the second flight after falling in the first game to Anan Lee. Krishnamurthy logged a sweep of Sehar Dey-Kohli (11-7, 11-4, 11-9) while Smith also swept past Adriana Ordaya (11-5, 11-8, 11-3) at the third and fourth flights, respectively.
At the fifth, Yan found herself in an epic battle at the fifth flight, taking the first game and dropping the second before each opponent split the third and fourth games in extra points. With the upper hand after a 16-14 win in the fourth game, Yan then closed things out over Olivia Kerkson with an 11-2 win in the decisive fifth game.
Stevens allowed just eight points to Mariya Novosad at the sixth flight, and Zegers got into the win column with a dominating performance over Sophia Choudri at the seventh (11-3, 11-2, 11-6).
Aman Hamdard grabbed an 11-2, 11-7, 1-4 win over Kelsey O'Connell at the eighth flight while Johnson- Fraidin was able to sweep past Chloe Valman (11-4, 11-5, 11-2). In the exhibition, Clarice Xu logged a sweep over Charlotte Banigan-White (11-3, 14-12, 11-7).
Haverford now breaks for the Thanksgiving holiday, and returns to action on Saturday, December 3 with a showdown against No. 23 Chatham at the Penn Squash Center in Philadelphia. First serve is slated for 3 p.m.