Walker Cup Provides the Excitement

Howe Cup got underway at Harvard Friday, and as is typically the case on the first day of competition, was a brief affair for most of the 37 teams. Many teams played matches that were really just "warm ups," sending them and the losing team onto what is sure to be a more evenly matched contest Saturday. The glaring exception to this was the Walker Cup (C Division) matches, where six of the teams fought tooth and nail to advance.

Amherst played in the first set of morning matches, and quickly secured its place in the Walker Cup semis with 9-0 win over St. Lawrence. Vassar and Colby also played in the morning, and set the tone for how things would go for the rest of the teams. Colby lost to Vassar 7-2 in the regular season, but pushed them to 5-4 this time around. Wesleyan lost to Columbia 7-2 just last Sunday, but sent them to the loser's bracket Friday, winning 5-4. Eighteenth seeded Tufts was pushed by 23rd seeded F&M and also narrowly escaped 5-4, winning at the 2-6 positions.

The Epps Cup (D Division) and Emerging Teams Division were all one-sided wins. Epps teams William Smith and Conn College advanced with 9-0 victories, while Northeastern had a tougher match, defeating Smith 7-2. Georgetown, which dominated the Emerging Division last year, made a strong first impression in the D Division, defeating Haverford 8-1. In the Emerging Division, Boston College and Cal both posted 5-0 wins over Drexel, while Vermont blanked Notre Dame.

The B Division looks much different this year, as perennial A Division teams, Brown and Dartmouth, are top seeds, while George Washington and Middlebury both moved up in the rankings to join the Division. Dartmouth defeated Hamilton soundly, and Brown overpowered GWU, winning 9-0.

"We were excited because we had nothing to lose," said GWU head coach Maura Myers. "The team learned what the next level is like. They played really well today."

Between the four of them, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Mount Holyoke and Bates have put together a slew of 5-4 matches this season. Things weren't quite so close Friday, as Bowdoin downed Middlebury 6-3, winning the top six positions, five of them in three games. Mount Holyoke came out firing against Bates, winning the first set of matches quickly to put them up 3-0.

Mount Holyoke head coach Allen Fitzsimmons said the hope was to get the first set of matches on court. Co-captain Laurie Lue Yen won in three at No. 6, and Laura Robinson did the same at No. 3. No. 9 Lila Khan lost the first, fought back from 0-6 in the second to win the game, and take the match in four.

"She came up really big for us," Fitzsimmons said of Khan. "That win was huge for the team's confidence.

Fitzsimmons said his team is looking to separate themselves from the pack of four teams (currently ranked 11-14), and with the win today, took the first step.

Another pack of teams saw its first casualty today, as No. 5 Yale had the unenviable role of being the first elite team to be out of contention for the national title. Trinity defeated the Bulldogs 7-2, not long before Princeton defeated Williams to set up the teams' first meeting of the season. Alexandra Van Arkel and Alia Aziz nabbed Yale's wins, while No.1 Logan Greer pushed Trinity's undefeated Nour Bahgat to five. Trinity head coach Wendy Bartlett was thrilled with how her team played, and saw vast improvement from their final regular season match, a 7-2 loss to Harvard.

"The Harvard loss was the best thing for us," Bartlett said. "Since then, we've concentrated on each individual – their weaknesses, their strengths. We just really buckled down. They all did what we talked about (against Yale). It was really good to see the work we did pay off."

Bartlett said her squad is excited to play Princeton, as it was an anomaly that the two teams did not meet this year. Princeton got off to a strong start against Williams, their one loss coming at the No. 1 position where Toby Eyre defeated Amanda Siebert 3-0.

Williams head coach Zafi Levy said the game plan for Eyre was to move Siebert around and stay in front, which he said she executed to perfection. The two did not play each other this season, as Eyre was abroad when the teams met.

"I wanted it pretty bad," Eyre said. "I've lost to her the last five years."

Penn defeated Cornell to set them up for a meeting with Harvard, which defeated Stanford. Harvard head coach Satinder Bajwa said Stanford was tougher than they expected, partly because their No. 1, Lily Lorentzen is back in the lineup. He said his team will improve as the tournament progresses.

Stanford will now meet Cornell, a match Stanford head coach mark Talbott expects to be closer than their last, which Cornell won 6-3. Talbott said Lorentzen, who injured her foot last fall, is playing at about 90 percent, and Cecilia Haig, who played the Cornell match at about 50 percent due to an injury, is healthier than she was.

"We're going to fare much better against them," Talbott said.

Check back with SquashTalk for updated coverage throughout the tournament.

 

 

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