PHILADELPHIA - The 28th-ranked Haverford College women's squash team (0-3) continued play at the Pennsylvania State Championships on Saturday, with early-season matchups against a pair of tough opponents in third-ranked Penn and No. 25 Chatham on the docket in University City.
Haverford was defeated 9-0 by Penn in the morning matchup, before falling to Chatham 6-3 later that afternoon at Drexel's Kline & Specter Squash Center.
The Pennsylvania State Championships is an annual round-robin tournament contested by every varsity squash program in the state of Pennsylvania, including a pair of perennial Division I powerhouses in Philadelphia—Penn and Drexel—along with Chatham, out of Pittsburgh. Centennial Conference foes Franklin & Marshall and Dickinson round out the field along with the Fords.
#3 Penn 9, #28 Haverford 0
Despite a valiant effort from senior Ariana Solecki at the top of the ladder, the senior fell to Franka Vidovic with scores of 11-5, 11-2, 11-0. In the second flight, Sohaila Ismail defeated Joelle Phuah in a match that featured a competitive second game (11-2, 11-7, 11-1).
In the third flight, Catherine Fortin was bested by Alexandra Stoddard (11-3, 11-2, 11-3), while Natasha Pensler triumphed over Zoe Liu with a hard-fought 11-0, 11-7, 11-3 victory in the fourth flight.
The fifth and sixth flights both went to Penn, as Yoshna Singh defeated Julia Carrasco 11-5, 11-2, 11-4, and Emma Wolf overcame Caroline Gay with scores of 11-3, 11-3, 11-3.
Continuing down the ladder, Ofri Geva came up short against Kelsey Abbrecht, falling 11-0, 11-3, 11-2 in the seventh flight. Maddie Oh defeated Matilda Chartener 11-1, 11-4, 11-1. In the final match of the day, Ella Cohen defeated Laine Reshefsky 11-0, 11-1, 11-5, securing the Quakers' victory.
#25 Chatham 6, #28 Haverford 3
A highly competitive matchup against the Cougars was next on deck, with the Fords showing some might against the talented side from the Steel City, picking up decisive victories in the seventh and eighth flights.
First-year Ofri Geva delivered a clutch victory in the seventh flight, sweeping past Yukta Rana 11-4, 11-3, 11-5, while Matilda Chartener also grabbed a win in the eighth flight, sweeping Amari Spivey (11-8, 11-3, 11-1). Chatham only had eight available players, so the Fords picked up a point by default in the ninth flight.
Despite a narrow loss, rookie Caroline Gay was locked in an epic battle with TaNiya Nored in the sixth flight. Nored took a narrow 11-8 win in the first game, but Gay responded with an 11-4 triumph. The third game went back to Nored 11-8, but Gay again had an answer, winning the fourth 11-9. In the decisive fifth frame, Nored did just enough to escape with an 11-6 victory to put a crucial tally in the Cougars' column.
Elsewhere, newcomer Julia Carrasco took Isabela Campos to extra points in a 15-13 first-game loss in the fifth flight before falling in straight games (15-13, 11-7, 11-9). Catherine Fortin was similarly poised in a 12-10 second-game loss against Vasundhra Vasanthan. Ariana Solecki reached nine points in her first-game loss in the top flight before Basmala Sayed Aref prevailed in three.
The Pennsylvania State Championships conclude at the Penn Squash Center tomorrow, with the Fords facing No. 24 Franklin & Marshall (9 a.m.) and No. 21 Dickinson (1 p.m.) to wrap up the busy opening weekend.