No. 29 Women's Squash Falls to No. 25 Franklin & Marshall at PA State Championships

Amelia Stevens

Posted: Nov 12, 2023

PHILADELPHIA - The 29th-ranked Haverford College Squash team (0-3) completed the weekend of play at the Pennsylvania State Championships on Sunday, falling to No. 25 Franklin & Marshall (1-2) by a 9-0 final.

The Penn State Championships, or Penn Cup, is an annual tournament-style event contested between every varsity squash program in the state of Pennsylvania, including a pair of perennial Division I powerhouses in Philadelphia's Penn and Drexel along with the upstart Chatham out of Pittsburgh. Centennial Conference foes Franklin & Marshall and Dickinson round out the annual field.

Gurlin Kaur of Franklin & Marshall secured a victory at the top flight over Emi Krishnamurthy, with scores of 11-1, 11-3, 11-5. Aryaa Ogale defeated Amelia Stevens with scores of 11-0, 11-1, 11-6 at the second.

In the third flight, Cate Costin of F&M overpowered Aman Hamdard with scores of 11-4, 11-2, 11-2. Zarine Gidwaney was victorious at the fourth over Zoe Liu, winning 11-5, 11-2, 11-3. Mia Todd secured another victory for Franklin & Marshall by defeating Maya Johnson-Fraidin with scores of 11-3, 11-1, 11-2 at the fifth flight.

Tatum Long defeated Matilda Chartener with scores of 11-5, 11-2, 11-1 at six. Iman Jaikishan claimed another win for F&M, defeating Amy Saxon with scores of 11-7, 11-3, 11-3. Joey Ho continued the Diplomats' success by getting the better of Lily Matthews with scores of 11-2, 11-3, 11-5. Ana Petrosky secured a victory at the ninth flight, defeating Sarah Kotapka with scores of 11-5, 11-4, 11-0.

The Diplomats took sweeps at all nine spots on the ladder to earn their first victory of the regular season. Saxon looked impressive at the seventh flight, scoring seven points from Iman Jaikishan in the first game.

Nayera Hasan also put up a strong showing in the exhibition match, taking Destiny Ponce to a 13-11 decision in the third game.

Next up for the Fords is a match-up with No. 21 St. Lawrence at the GIAC Squash Courts, scheduled for a 12 p.m. start on Saturday. The match will serve as the annual staff/faculty appreciation match, as players will honor faculty and staff from around the Haverford campus prior to first serve.