Del Balzo Leads Blue Squash at D-III Individuals

BRUNSWICK, Maine -- Three members of the Wellesley College squash team competed at the 2014 College Squash Association (CSA) Division III Individual Invitational Tournament this weekend. The Blue were represented by senior Sara Del Balzo, sophomore Gabriella Wynne, and first-year Meera Nayar.

Del Balzo recorded the highest finish for the Blue at the event, finishing 11th in the B draw. The senior opened the tournament with a hard-fought loss to Bowdoin's Chloe Polikoff, nearly pulling off an upset, but falling in five, 12-10, 6-11, 5-11, 14-12, 11-9. Del Balzo bounced back with a 3-0 win (11-8, 11-8, 11-8), over MIT's Viveka Mishra in the opening round of the consolation bracket. In her final match of the event, she fell to Amherst's Ann Bellinger in a close four-game match (12-10, 9-11, 11-5, 11-6). 

Nayar and Wynne also dropped their opening matches, but both grabbed a game from their opponents.  Nayar fell to Colby's Elizabeth Brehman in a well-played four-game match (12-10, 10-12, 11-6, 11-7), while Wynne dropped a close match to Connecticut College's Leah Puklin in four (11-13, 11-6, 11-8, 11-4). 

In the consolation rounds, Nayar dropped her opener over MIT's Sarah Fay, 8-11, 11-3, 15-13, 11-7, while Wynne fell to Mount Holyoke's Samantha Rosado, 11-5, 11-6, 5-11, 11-7. The pair faced off against each other in the next round, with Nayar grabbing the four-game win, 11-1, 7-11, 11-0, 11-6. Rounding out her tournament, Nayar picked up a three-game win over MIT's Mishra, 11-9, 11-7, 11-6.

Fourteen schools were represented at the tournament: Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Denison, Hamilton, Middlebury, MIT, Mount Holyoke, Tufts, Wellesley, Wesleyan, and Williams. 

Wellesley squash is back in action at home on Saturday, hosting Northeastern at 2:00pm at the Dana Hall School in Wellesley.