The women’s squash team finished an exciting weekend as hosts of the Wesleyan Round Robin with a 5-4 win over Smith, lifting its record to 3-4. The weekend began with a difficult 6-3 loss to George Washington. The Cardinals went on to split their Saturday matches, defeating Connecticut College 5-4 before falling 6-3 to Wellesley.
The team co-captains, Christine Speir ’08 and Nicole Gray ’08, led the charge this weekend, each going 4-0.
“I received lots of advice from my coach and teammates,” Gray said. “They pointed out opponents’ weaknesses and I attacked them.”
Speir began the weekend with a 3-2 victory over her George Washington opponent.
“I won the first two games, and then she won the next two,” Speir said. “I knew that I could win I just had to focus and play my game. It’s hard to focus during squash tournaments especially when you are tired and frustrated. By the last game I was calm and patient and I put her away. ”
Speir said her composure was key to completing an undefeated weekend.
“My best strategy this weekend was patience,” she said. “I took time to control the pace of the match before killing the ball. I also think I got a lot of points off my lobs. People underestimate the power of the lob.”
Wesleyan’s top player, Casey Simchik ’10, began the weekend 0-2, losing 0-3 to George Washington and Connecticut College.
“I think I was a little slow getting into the George Washington match, which caused me to lose the first game quickly,” said Simchik. “I was winning in the second game, 5-0 and then I ended up losing it. If I had won the second game, I think the match would have been a lot different.”
Simchik also took some positives from her loss to Connecticut College.
“Although I lost the Connecticut College match, I am really pleased with how I played,” she said. “I think that I played the best I have so far this season in that match. The girl was really strong and I just wanted to play with her.”
Simchik bounced back to defeat her Wellesley opponent 3-0.
“The first game went back and forth a little bit and once I won it I think I just got in a rhythm,” Simchik said. “I decided that I just wanted to finish it off and then I began to take one point at a time. I then went on to win the next two games, giving up no points.”
Ultimately, Simchik finished the tournament with a 3-1 victory over Smith.
“I kept her on the run and continued to hit straight until I saw that she was off balance and predicting another rail. I responded with an offensive cross court,” Simchik said.
The Cardinals are off for a month but will return to action Jan. 6 and 7 in Dartmouth’s Snowflake Tournament.
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