Corey Sobotka/Assistant Photo Editor
While their non-athletic peers spent the final three weeks of winter break soaking up as much relaxation as possible, the Wesleyan squash team was working tirelessly to piece together a historic start to the second half of the 2012-13 season. Combined, the men’s and women’s teams have notched eight wins in the new year, the most notable being a pair of victories over archrival Amherst for the men’s side and twin 9-0 victories over Northeastern University and Haverford College at the Pioneer Valley Invitational.
Due to their combined successes on the courts, the most recent rankings by the Dunlop College Squash Association have the men’s team jumping into the 21st slot and the women’s snatching the 18th position.
The month of January was characterized for the men’s side by the historic 5-4 defeat of Little Three rival Amherst College for the first time in 24 years. Even more remarkable is that the victory was only the fifth for the Cardinals in 73 matches. Seeking to start a multi-decade winning streak of their own against the Lord Jeffs, the Cardinals trounced Amherst for the second time in a week to the tune of a more decisive 6-3 victory.
The first victory was fittingly dramatic; entering the final match, starring #7 Blair Corbin ’15, the two teams were locked in a 4-4 stalemate. However tense the context, Corbin handled his business cleanly and disposed of his opponent, 3-1. During the return match at Williams six days later, the Cards were aided by the return of Mike Delalio ’15, who was slotted #5 and won his match 3-1. A strong pair of performances from newcomer Guy Davidson ’16, who atained the number two spot for both matches, was monumental in guiding the Cardinals to victory.
The men’s team notched a 5-3 record in the month of January and currently holds an 11-5 record for the year. The Cardinal men are seeded sixth going into the NESCAC Championships.
The team is steadfast in its hopes for NESCAC glory, as Cameron Rahbar ’15 summarizes, “After our wins against Amherst and Stanford, if we keep up the momentum we can play better than we ever have at NESCACs.”
The women’s team has much to celebrate and feel confident about heading into tournament play. During a loud and successful January, the Cardinals notched three key victories over Mount Holyoke, Haverford, and Northeastern, earning them an undefeated mark for the first day of the Pioneer Valley Invitational on Jan. 19.
The meeting with Mount Holyoke was the most contentious of the three battles as Wesleyan powered through to a 5-4 victory. Wesleyan’s efforts were spearheaded by the lower numbers, as all but one of the #4 through #8 matches were 3-0 victories.
Captain Grace Zimmerman ’13 displayed her veteran status with an undefeated weekend at the invitational, ensuring that the Cardinals would claim an automatic W at the #4 spot. Equally impressive was Liza Bayless ’16, who along with Claire Miller ’15, stayed undefeated for the entire weekend. More impressively, Bayless and Miller collected the lone victories at the #7 and #8 spots respectively in a tough 7-2 loss to Amherst.
The Cardinals were unable to mount a historic upset over Little Three rivals Williams and Amherst in January. The team managed to score three victories from Amherst on Jan. 26, their best result in Little Three play this season. The victories came from Claire Miller ’15, Kar-Anne Tan ’13, and Lauren Nelson ’15. The next challenge for the Cardinals comes in the form of NESCAC championship play at Trinity on Feb. 1. In order to shock the squash world, the Cardinals will need to rely heavily on the strengths that have been the foundation of their 12-6 regular season record.
As Anne Maxwell ’15 put it, “For the women’s team to find success at NESCACs, I think that we have to realize our full potential and embrace it. As a team we have the ability to win against teams who we’ve lost to in the past, but in order to win we need to go into each match with a lot of confidence and intensity.”
Surely, the Cardinals have plenty to look forward to in their final matches.