Wellesley Squash Sweeps To Third Straight Seven Sisters Title
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Wellesley College squash captured the program's third consecutive Seven Sisters Squash Championship on Saturday afternoon at the 2016 Championship hosted by Vassar College at the Kenyon Hall Squash Courts.
The Blue, currently ranked 22nd in the College Squash Association, improve to 12-4 on the season after sweeping to 9-0 victories over No. 27 Mount Holyoke College, No. 29 Vassar and No. 41 Smith College. Wellesley has now won six Seven Sisters Championships (2000, 2001, 2002, 2014, 2015, 2016) in the sixteen year history of the tournament.
Wellesley sophomores Sarah Zhang (Lexington, Mass.) and Phyllis Lin (Acton, Mass.) and junior Meera Nayar (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) all went 3-0 on the day to earn All Seven Sisters honors.
Wellesley 9, Mount Holyoke 0
It took Zhang all five games to defeat Mount Holyoke sophomore Brandy Williamson (New York, N.Y.) in the Blue's opening match, as the two number ones went back-and-forth before Zhang took the match, 5-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-3, 11-1.
The Blue swept to 3-0 wins in the other eight match-ups, as Lin defeated Allison Schilling (New Canaan, Conn.) and Nayar defeated fellow All Seven Sisters honoree Catherine Ryan (Longmeadow, Mass.), 11-2, 11-4, 11-5.
Junior Rhea Advani (Mumbai, India), senior Gabriella Wynne (Brookline, Mass.) and sophomore Haley Connor (Boston, Mass.) all swept to wins at four, five and six, while senior Kate Loftus (Portland, Ore.), juniors Navisha Gupta (Mumbai, India) and Ruby Feng (Old Lyme, Conn.) closed out the 9-0 victory with wins at seven, eight and nine.
Wellesley 9, Vassar 0
The Brewers gave Wellesley their biggest test of the day, as it once again took Zhang five games to secure a win at number one, while Lin and Advani needed four games to win their match-ups at two and four, respectively. The rest of the Blue lineup swept to 3-0 wins.
Zhang opened with 13-11 and 11-8 wins over Vassar All Seven Sisters selection Hannah Nice (Hanover, N.H.), before Nice countered with 11-5 and 11-8 wins of her own. Zhang then took a tight 13-11 win to capture the match.
At two, Lin outlasted first year Fiona Agger (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 14-12, in the opening game before Agger, also an All Seven Sisters performer, countered with an 11-9 win. However, Lin stormed to 11-1 and 11-2 wins in the next two games to take the match. At four, Advani dropped the first game before sweeping the next three to defeat Isabelle Bertram (Salt Lake City, Utah), 9-11, 11-0, 11-2, 11-4.
Wellesley 9, Smith 0
Needing a third win on Saturday to secure Wellesley's third consecutive Seven Sisters title, the Blue rolled past Smith. All nine Wellesley players swept to 3-0 wins, including All Seven Sisters selections Zhang, Lin and Nayar at one, two and three.
Like the first match of the day, Advani, Wynne and Connor then swept to wins at four, five and six, while Loftus, Gupta and Feng earned wins at seven, eight and nine to help the Blue past the Pioneers for the second time this season.
Wellesley squash returns home to the Dana Hall School on Tuesday evening, February 9, to host Senior Day versus Boston College at 7:00 PM.
2016 Seven Sisters Squash Championship
Hosted by Vassar College
Standings
Wellesley - 3-0
Mount Holyoke - 2-1
Vassar - 1-2
Smith - 0-3
2016 All Seven Sisters Team
Sarah Zhang, Wellesley
Phyllis Lin, Wellesley
Meera Nayar, Wellesley
Catherine Ryan, Mount Holyoke
Annie Wong, Mount Holyoke
Carly Melillo, Smith
Josephine Surer, Smith
Fiona Agger, Vassar
Hannah Nice, Vassar