CSA 05-06 Previews

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Women's Last Season Recap:
The Amherst women’s squash team kicked off the 2004-05 season with a bang, posting convincing victories over Tufts University, Hamilton College and Middlebury College, and dropping just two individual matches along the way.  The Jeffs hit a three-match skid, but rebounded with three consecutive shutout victories over Smith College, Vassar College and Wellesley College, and made it four straight with a 6-3 decision over Colby College. 

After a tough 9-0 loss to third-ranked Princeton University, the Jeffs were dominant in an 8-1 thrashing of 16th-ranked St. Lawrence University.  They then dropped a 7-2 decision to ninth-ranked Bates College, in a close match that featured five matches that went to at least four games.  Amherst responded with shutout wins over Mount Holyoke College and Wesleyan University, before falling to stiff competition from Williams College and Yale University to close out the regular season.  The Jeffs posted an impressive finish at Howe Cup Nationals, defeating familiar foes Colby and St. Lawrence to move to 12-8 on the season and finish at No. 11 in the final national rankings.

Key Losses
Amherst loses senior co-captains Ashley Harmeling and Ali Gibbs to graduation, as well as classmate Erin Murphy.  Harmeling was a dominant force for the Jeffs in the No. 1 slot for three seasons, while Gibbs was equally formidable in the middle of the lineup.  Murphy added valuable depth to the ladder in her first season last year, picking up big wins in the Nos. 8 and 9 positions.

Key Returnees
The Jeffs return seven of their top nine, including senior co-captains Scotty Hanley and Lauren Coape-Arnold and classmate Margo Nathan, juniors Caroline Shannon, Emily O’Brien and Sarah Harper and sophomore Libby Martin.  Shannon has contributed valuable time at the top of the lineup over the past two seasons, while O’Brien and Martin have been rock-solid in the middle of the ladder and Hanley and Harper posted big wins in the Nos. 7, 8 and 9 positions last season.

Newcomers
Juniors Bryn Pallesen and Emery Sweeney will make their debuts for the Jeffs this season, along with sophomore Ali Berman and rookie Meredith Still, who brings extensive junior experience to the courts.  Amherst also welcomes co-head coaches Peter Robson and Tom Carmean to the program, and new assistant coach Erin Kisnsella Robson ’90 also joins the Amherst coaching staff.  Kisnsella Robson has a MSc in Sports and Exercise from Smith College, where she coached squash and served as the head squash and tennis coach at Williams College before coming to Amherst this winter.