Squash Teams Win Four NESCAC Matches

The Middlebury Men’s and Women’s Squash teams have continued their string of early season success in the start of the next segment of their season this winter term. After a brief respite in match play over December break, the Panther Men and Women have returned with decisive wins over fellow NESCAC teams Bowdoin and Colby College. The Panther men won the Bowdoin and Colby matches 6-3 and 9-0 respectively, while the Panther women won both of those matches by a score of 8-1.

The Panther women faced a tough week this week with matches against Mt. Holyoke, Williams, Amherst and Connecticut College. Middlebury was able to capture wins against Mt. Holyoke, Amherst, and Connecticut College by scores of 7-2, 7-2, and 9-0 respectively.

The Middlebury women did, however, fall short of a win in a nail-biting match against perennial powerhouse Williams College in which they lost 5-4. Charlotte Dewey ’15, remained undefeated in all four of her matches after defeating the no. two players of each of the four teams. Annie Wymard ’15 garnered two wins against the no. three seeds from Connecticut College and Amherst College.

The success of the women’s team can also largely be attributed to a number of underclassmen players who have stepped up successfully to fill important positions in the teams seeding order.

“While we lost to Williams, it was a great environment to play in due to the large crowd and vocal fans which makes matches like that enjoyable despite having lost,” said Wymard.

Like Wymard, Dewey was equally positive about the team’s latest matches.

“It was a squash filled weekend, and we ended up playing really well,” said Dewey. “We won three out of the four matches and had a great run against Williams despite the loss. Overall it was a great weekend of squash and we hope to carry the momentum into next weekend when we play Cornell, Yale and F&M.”

The Panther men also faced a tough weekend with three matches played in a three day span against Williams, Amherst and Connecticut College. Although the men’s team fell to Williams by a match score of 7-2, they were able to bounce back with two wins against Amherst College and Connecticut College by scores of 7-2 and 9-0 respectively. Parker Hurst ’14 remained undefeated over the course of the weekend while playing in the no. 2 spot for the Panthers.

Both the men’s and women’s squash teams rolled past visiting Hamilton on Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 15, with both squads winning 9-0. The men went to four games at the number-four and number-five slots, but otherwise had little trouble with the 21st-ranked Continentals. On the women’s side, the Panthers swept through the top eight matches, before Annie Ulrich ’13 went to a fifth game before defeating her opponent in the ninth slot. The Hamilton women entered the day as the nation’s 16th-ranked team.

Coach John Illig earned his 500th career win over the weekend with his career record remaining at 506-314. Illig has coached Squash at a number of top ranked college for over 22 years.

The Panther men face a mid-week match against Hamilton at home, and matches against Cornell and Franklin & Marshall at the Yale Round Robin this coming weekend. The Panther women will also face the same schedule for the next week.

“This weekend will prove to be a challenge as well when we face both Cornell and Yale, but I think the main focal point this weekend will be to continue to coach each other well and supporting one another from the sidelines and hope that our two-a-days pay off,” said Wymard.