Panther squash finishes strong in NESCAC play

As in collegiate rankings and prestige, the NESCAC is the “Little Ivy League” when it comes to squash. While the Ivy League claims seven of the top ten teams in both men’s and women’s college squash heading into nationals, the NESCAC boasts seven of the top 20 — including top-ranked Trinity — for the men’s side and five of the top 20 — including second-ranked Trinity — for the women.  For a program on the rise such as this one, the NESCAC tournament represents a chance to continue their ascent, yet is replete with pitfalls as well.

This year, both teams seemed poised to accomplish some of the lofty goals set out at the season’s start. The men needed to beat Bowdoin, ranked 15th, to reach their goal of making the B-flight — teams 9-16 in the country. The women looked to fend off 14th-ranked Amherst to remain in the top 13 heading into nationals.

In any challenge, success is relative. The men finished fifth overall in the NESCAC, a three-place jump from last year’s eighth, but were unable to overcome illness, nagging injuries and a determined Polar Bear squad still riled up after last year’s nationals upset.

After earning a first-round bye, the Panthers were handled by the Polar Bears. Unwilling to lean on excuses like a team-wide illness that left everyone lethargic and with shallow lungs, Captain Simon Keyes ’10 simply said, “they were better than us.  On our best day, we could have beaten them 5-4, but it was not our best day. We are still a piece or two away from the B-flight.”

That piece could have been J.P. Garafalo ’12, who was lost for the season after having been a stalwart in the middle of the ladder his rookie year. Coaches are happy to move players up the ladder on merit, but losing quality players like Garafalo forces everyone to slide up the ladder, creating mismatches. Nonetheless, that piece still may be one of Coach Illig’s recruits of the future.

The women also finished a school-best fourth in the NESCAC tournament. After a first round bye and quickly dismantling Amherst 6-3, the team had the unlucky draw of playing juggernaut Trinity. While not as storied as the Trinity’s men team, which has 220 consecutive wins sported by the Trinity men, the second-ranked women are still dominant.

“We played two of the top teams in college squash, Princeton and Trinity, and everyone fought really hard,” said sophomore Al Boillot ’12.

The 9-0 loss to Trinity was not nearly as tough to stomach as the 6-3 loss to 11- ranked Bates. Playing them for the first time all season, the Panthers had a chance to make a statement, but again had trouble at the top of their lineup. Captains and top seeded players Virginia Shannon ’11 — playing #1 for the first time all season — and Avery Tilney ’10 finished a combined 0-6 for the weekend. Both Shannon and Tilney are superb players who thrived last season playing behind graduate Sally Hatfield ’09, but neither staked their claim as the true heir to the #1 spot and both struggled this season.

“It was a really good weekend —  disappointing loss on Sunday — but overall we have had a great two weeks,” said Boillot. “Everyone has been really excited and playing well and we still came in fourth in the NESCACs.”

Looking to this weekend and nationals, both teams find themselves ranked as high as they have been in school history, yet yearning for more. The men wish they could have mustered a little more against Bowdoin to reach the B-flight, while the women saw the #3 NESCAC spot — behind Trinity and nemesis Williams — fall through their fingertips.

Neither team has anything to be ashamed of nor have they reached their ultimate season goals. With the upward trends of both of these teams making a case for playing with the Big Boys in a matter of years, this weekend’s nationals should be another step in the right direction.