The women’s squash team struggled in the NESCAC Tournament this weekend, going 0-3 against their conference rivals. The team, the eleventh seed in the eleven team tournament, opened up the weekend with a 9-0 loss to sixth-seeded Colby in the opening round, eliminating the Cards from the main draw.
Hosting Tufts in the consolation bracket the next day, the Cards received inspirational play from captain Nicole Gray ’08 who pulled out a gutsy 3-0 win at the number seven position. The Cards entered the match with a 2-0 advantage, as a few key starters for the Jumbos recently quit the team. Elizabeth Larner ’10 and Caroline Janin ’08 were the beneficiaries, as the number eight and nine players received forfeit wins. Unfortunately, the top of the Tufts lineup proved to be too strong for the Cards’ young talent, as the Jumbos eked out a 5-4 victory.
The team dropped a 6-3 decision to Connecticut College the next day, rounding out the weekend’s competition. One of the highlights of the day was the play of Ellen Werble ’07, who had not played on the squash team since her freshman year. With one of the team’s starters, Katie Kalafus ’09 missing from action, head coach Shona Kerr scrambled to find a replacement player over the weekend, with most of the team’s bench players at the beginning stages of their squash careers. Instead of placing Werble at number nine, the last starting position, Kerr stuck the senior right in the middle of the lineup at number six. The move paid off as Werble hammered home a 3-0 victory against her Camel opponent.
“Ellen’s win was big because she hasn’t played squash since freshman year. She stepped in like a pro and gave us a key win,” said Casey Simchek ’09. “What the team lacks is experience, but Ellen has experience. She’s been playing since she was little, and she came up huge for us.”
Kerr’s decision not to move the bottom of the lineup up a position and sub in Werble for Kalafus at number six helped Gray, who went 2-1 on the weekend at the number seven spot.
“Part of the reason for my wins on Saturday as opposed to Friday was that I moved down to the seventh position rather than sixth. Shona wanted to make sure we, as a team, had the best chance of winning and were not affected negatively by that setback. Although Katie was missed, we adjusted appropriately,” Gray said.
The Cardinals’ top player, Simchik, was unable to get going over the weekend losing all her matches at the top spot.
“My Connecticut College opponent was similar to my Colby opponent. The Connecticut College player was a really good shot maker and got everything back, like the player from Colby. The only way I could win points was to keep the point going, and I wasn’t really able to do that,” Simchik said.
While the women’s squash team has struggled this season in the win/loss column, stumbling to a 4-12 record, the experience should help the young squad next year.
“The season was very important for our team, mainly to get experience,” Simchik said. “Even if we’re not winning, we’re going to be better off in the long run. I lose a lot of my matches but I’m improving, playing the better players, much like the other players in our lineup.”
On Tuesday, the Cardinals will host Smith in preparation for the Little Three Tournament on Saturday. The team will then face Vassar on Sunday.
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