End Emotional for Squash, Seniors

Author: Alison Hertel

It was an up and down weekend for Middlebury women's squash at the Howe Cup, the national championships held at Yale University. Middlebury came in sixth in the B-Division out of eight schools (behind the University of Pennsylvania, Bates, Amherst, Saint Lawrence and Colby colleges, and ahead of Wellesley and Bowdoin colleges) and 14th out of 28 schools overall. They closed out the season with a winning record of 13-8.

On Friday, Feb. 15, Middlebury fell to Saint Lawrence, 3-6, the same result as the two teams' previous meeting this season. On Saturday, Middlebury beat Bowdoin with a convincing 6-3 victory. On Sunday, Feb. 17 Middlebury lost to Colby 5-4. Colby had acquired two new players since their last meeting with Middlebury and as a result had become a much stronger team. Holly Haertel '05 said, "Going into the Howe Cup we knew we were matched up against some tough teams. Both St. Lawrence and Colby had acquired new players since we had played them last, and this made their teams both unpredictable and noticeably stronger."

Head Coach Dave Saward said, "At the Howe Cup, I felt that we had some very good individual performances over the weekend including co-captain Sarah Herrup '02 at number one, Holly Haertel at number two, Britt Cosgrove '04 at number eight and Lauren Smith '05 at number seven. [Smith and Cosgrove] went undefeated." Herrup beat her opponent from Colby in just three games. Saward said, "She beat the Colby number one 3-0, having lost to her earlier in the year." Herrup also had an excellent match against Bowdoin, losing in the tiebreak of the fifth game.

Holly Haertel, playing in Yale's impressive all glass courts, had an impressive win over the player from Bowdoin. Saward said, "[Haertel] produced a superb performance against the number two from Bowdoin." "She was so on," added Co-captain Ellie Toan '02.

Middlebury had hoped to come out higher in the B-Division, but was happy that the team played well. Saward said, "The team as a whole did not produce the fighting performances that were required, and we, therefore, just failed to beat Colby, losing 4-5, and in my opinion it was a match we could have won if all players were at the top of their game."

One constant problem for the Middlebury team is the lack of regulation courts, causing the team to practice on different-sized courts than they compete on and play all their matches away. Saward said, "All in all it was a very good season considering that all matches were played away from Middlebury and that all matches were played on the international-sized court rather that the ones we have to train on here." Haertel added, "We played some great teams and although we did not win all of our matches, I think that we all ended the season feeling as though we had improved. With the addition of our temporary, regulation courts next year and finally some home matches I think that our team will only get stronger."

It was an emotional weekend for the seniors, Herrup and Toan. "Both seniors, Ellie Toan and Sarah Herrup, brought a level of commitment and dedication to the sport that will be reflected over the coming years, their legacy will live on," Saward said. Toan received a Scholar Award at the team banquet on Saturday night.

Herrup and Haertel will advance to the Individual Nationals, to be held the first weekend in March at Princeton University. The Middlebury men's number one player, Casper Reske-Nielsen '02, will also participate at the nationals.