AMHERST, Mass & SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – In their first competitive matches in well over a month, the Wesleyan women's squash team showed no signs of rust as the Cardinals earned a pair of wins over Haverford and Chatham in the Pioneer Valley Invitational hosted by Amherst and Mount Holyoke. Wesleyan defeated Haverford 7-2 to start the day and finished with an 8-1 win over Chatham in the night session. The Cardinals (4-3) have now won three straight.
Wesleyan 8, Haverford 1 | Scoreline
- The Cardinals moved to 23-0 all-time against Haverford with their 8-1 win on Saturday
- Laila Kewalramani '24 battled to a tough straight set win over Isabelle Johnson at #1 as she won 11-9, 12-10 in the opening two sets before sealing the match with a 11-7 third set victory
- Marangela James '24 picked up 3-0 win (11-6, 11-5, 12-10) over Catherine Fortin at #3 while Portia Pliam '25 also earned a 3-0 sweep (11-5, 11-7, 11-5) at #4
- Emma Smith '22 went the distance with Emi Krishnamurthy at #5, with Smith winning the first two sets 12-10, 11-4 before seeing Krishnamurthy battle back with 11-9, 11-8 victories to force a tiebreak. In the deciding fifth set, Smith won 12-10 in a thriller.
- Sydney Smith '25, Annie Roach '22, Sydney Kim '22 and Celia Penny '24 all won in straight sets in the #6-9 positions. Kim dropped just 10 games total in her 3-0 win while Penny lost just 11 in her convincing win at #9.
Wesleyan 7, Chatham 2 | Scoreline
- Facing an undermanned Chatham side, the Cardinals took decisive wins in the #3 through #6 positions combined with three default wins in #7 through #9 to take the 7-2 win in what was the first all-time meeting between the two sides
- James defeated Yukta Rana 11-1, 11-5, 11-4 at #3 while Pliam and Sydney Smith dropped just six games total in their respective 3-0 victories and Emma Smith dropped just five games in her 3-0 win at #5
- Roach, Kim and Penny won by default in their positions to seal the win for Wesleyan
Wesleyan returns to the court with a pair of matches next weekend. The Cardinals first travel to Tufts where they will face Bates on Saturday at 3 PM. On Sunday, January 23, Wesleyan will do battle at home against Bowdoin starting at 12 PM.
