The friendly rivalry of the Little Three Championships turned fierce, heating up the squash courts at Wesleyan University this past weekend. The men handily beat the host Cardinals 9-0, and the women also earned a solid victory of 9-0 against Wesleyan. Both Amherst squash teams, however, could not move past Williams College to claim the championship title. Taking their tenth straight Little Three Championships title, the Ephs defeated the women 8-1 and the men 9-0. The Jeffs settled for second place overall in the Little Three rivalry.
Women
The women’s squad improved upon its game losses to Wesleyan from their last meeting in the NESCAC Tournament — just one week ago — by winning 7-2. Sophomore tennis-convert Mimi Bell and rookie Megan Clower had impressive performances at No. 7 and No. 8 in Amherst’s lineup, respectively. Bell, despite losing the first game by a narrow margin 9-10, recovered to trounce her opponent in the next three games. Clower likewise dropped the first game to her opponent but came back to win her match in four games. Also giving a stellar comeback performance was first-year Anna Scheidt, who had been on the bench due to an ankle injury. Scheidt had no trouble competing at a top level in the No. 4 spot. She breezed by Andrea Giuliano of Wesleyan in three straight games.
Although the match against Williams College was more of a learning experience than an evenly matched competition, the Jeffs proved that they could rally with one of the best squash teams in the nation. The Ephs currently stand at eighth place in the College Squash Association’s rankings, while the Jeffs are at 17th. Senior team captain Melissa Moulton upset Kavitah Mannava of Williams with a thrilling four-game victory (10-9, 5-9, 10-9, 9-0). With her win against the formidable Eph, the team captain became the lone Jeff to earn a 2-0 record over the weekend. Sophomore Hayley Milbourn also had a notable performance against Williams. Milbourn ran her opponent around the court as the No. 2 player for the Jeffs but eventually had to concede defeat (10-8, 9-7, 9-6). Overall in the final round, the Ephs overwhelmed the Jeffs 8-1, and Amherst took second place in the Little Three Championships.
“Last weekend at NESCACs we went 6-3 and 0-9 with Wesleyan and Williams, respectively. In the Little Threes this weekend we had a stronger showing against both teams and improved to 7-2 and 1-8, thanks in part to Anna’s return from an ankle injury and in part to a hard week of practice,” said Moulton ’09. She also added that the team still had high hopes for the last week of the season: “We aim to take the division title next weekend.”
Men
On the men’s side, the Jeffs took out the Cardinals 9-0, but the highly ranked Ephs proved too tough to beat.
The men had no trouble edging past Wesleyan. Eight of Amherst’s points for the match came from straight three-game victories. Senior co-captain Ben Bishop at the No. 3 spot ended up defeating Dale Kobrin of the Cardinals in four games to help the Jeffs earn a clean sweep.
In the final match-up of the championships, the 16th-ranked Jeffs were thwarted by the Ephs — currently 10th in the nation. Despite playing very solid squash, senior co-captain Jerome Giovinazzo lost his match as the No. 2 player for Amherst in three games (9-6, 9-4, 9-6). With the final results, the men also claimed second place overall in the Little Three Championships.
As their season draws to a swift conclusion next week, the women hope to improve upon their 13-10 record on Friday at Harvard University for the Howe Cup. The men will have more training time, as they next step onto the courts on Feb. 20 in the College Squash Association Team Championships at Princeton University.