Men
The Jeffs dropped only one match en route to taking down the Cardinals despite subpar playing on the part of the Jeffs. “[The] team played lackluster squash against Wesleyan, but luckily the Cardinals are a less-than-lackluster team,” said senior co-captain Lee Banta. Junior Brian Warner moved up to the number one match and responded by winning 3-1. Tom Rapisarda ’11, Todd Lavine ’12, Banta and Saahil Sud ’10 all recorded sweeps in their matches to boost Amherst to an 8-1 win.
The game against the Ephs didn’t go as well for the Jeffs. Williams swept Amherst 9-0. Sophomore Steve Severson and Rapisarda were the only ones who managed to win a game, taking the match to the fourth game before dropping 3-1. The loss dropped them to 8-6 on the season.
Next, the Jeffs will head to Trinity College for the NESCAC Tournament. There, they will kick things off with a matchup against Wesleyan and look to advance in the tournament and pull off an upset of top seed. The NESCAC Tournament starts on Friday at 5 p.m.
Women
Like the men’s squash team, the women were able to dominate the Wesleyan team, sweeping the Cardinals 9-0. The Jeffs dropped only three games total, and six Jeffs recorded 3-0 wins. “Our team’s performance this weekend was excellent,” said senior co-captain Hannah Merves. “Wesleyan always presents a challenge, but the team didn’t even give away a single match.”
The game against the Ephs emulated the way of the men’s team as the women dropped all nine matches in the sweep. First-year Mary Katherine McNeil was the only one able to win a game, taking the first one 11-6 before losing three straight in the number eight match. The loss gave them a second place title in the Little Three Championship.
The team is looking forward to the NESCAC Tournament at Trinity this Saturday, where their first challenge will come from Middlebury College. “We lost to Middlebury 2-7 earlier in the season but are eager for the rematch and hope to take home a win,” stated Merves. “Amherst is ranked 14th nationally, while Middlebury is ranked 13th, so we will be playing our hardest in order to move up in the rankings.”