Posted: Feb 01, 2014

From the Coaches: Seven Sisters Squash Championships

Behind the scores at Seven Sisters Squash:

In 2002, Wellesley won the Seven Sisters Squash tournament; since then, Vassar and Mount Holyoke have combined to win every title, including Holyoke winning the last seven in a row. In that span, under the leadership of head coach Wendy Berry, Wellesley has inched closer to Mount Holyoke, coming as close as a 4-5 loss at last year's Seven Sisters tournament. This year, with a full compliment of experienced and determined players, Wellesley was out to change those patterns. After a routine win over Smith, in which no Wellesley player lost more than six total points, the team prepared for Mount Holyoke, their new arch-rival.

The first matches on were the even slots, including Sara Del Balzo, Haley Vasquez, Rhea Advani, and Kate Loftus. Sara ran in a brick wall in Sherouk Khefagy, an Egyptian sophomore who was extremely sharp in her court control, winning quickly, 11-1, 11-1, 11-3. Meanwhile, Haley was on the aggressor's side of a one-sided match, defeating Holyoke's Elyse Taylor by 11-3, 11-3, 11-8. With the match tied 1-1, Kate Loftus was the next to finish, at the #8 spot. Facing Catherine Ryan, Kate struggled in the middle stages of the match once Ryan adapted to her hard, overhead serve, but with some adjustments to serve and depth of her shots, Kate won a tough match 11-5, 13-15, 11-9, 11-5, giving Wellesley an early lead in the match. First-year Rhea Advani was the final first-round match on court, and she also had to fight for most of her points. Sanjna Merchant pushed her hard, taking the second game, but eventually it was a war-weary Rhea coming off the court the winner by scores of 11-9, 11-13, 11-7, 11-7. While the first round of matches was finishing, Wellesley standout first-year Meera Nyar had edged her opponent, Sam Rosado, in their first two games before pushing her firmly away in the third en route to an 11-7, 11-9, 11-3 win, which set Wellesley one win away from the championship with the #1, 5, 7, and 9 players left to play. Navisha Gupta struggled at #7 against junior Xianger Fei, who was adept at intercepting Navisha's cross court drives and putting the Wellesley first-year under tremendous pressure. Navisha lost in three games, 4-11, 9-11, 6-11.

The anticipation was nearly palpable among both teams and their fans. Wellesley was one win away from their first Seven Sisters championship title in twelve years; Mount Holyoke was still alive in their fight for their unprecedented eighth title in eight years. #1 seed senior Rosemary O'Connor fought hard against familiar foe Randima Ranaweera, a Shrilankan senior whom Rosemary has never beaten in their four years competing. Randima was the superior player once more this time, though a hard-fought final game made it extremely interesting to the spectators. Rosemary fell 5-11, 2-11, 12-14, which allowed Holyoke to pull within one match, with Wellesley up 4-3 with the #9 and #5 on court. At #9, first-year Ruby Feng was in a front-court-based battle with Holyoke first-year and Massachusetts native Amy Sanchez. The match was close throughout, but in the end, Ruby was the one able to make better adjustments, moving Sanchez around the court efficiently in her 9-11, 13-11, 12-10, 11-6 win, sealing Wellesley's exciting victory. Once #5 sophomore Gabriella Wynne completed her convincing win over Holyoke's Allison Schilling, winning 11-8, 11-4, 11-5, the Blue were finally able to celebrate something better than a second place finish at Seven Sisters in squash.

It was an amazing day for the Wellesley Squash program, and one that the players and coaches won't soon forget. Next up, the team takes aim at Wesleyan and Bowdoin in its quest to continue moving upward in the national rankings.

Dave Renninger, Wellesley Assistant Coach