Correction Appended
Competing in their final tournament of the season, seven Dartmouth squash players participated in the 2010 College Squash Association Individual Championships over the weekend. On the women's side, Corey Schafer '13 advanced to the quarterfinals in the Holleran division while Robbie Maycock '13 of the Big Green men's squad played into the round of 16 in the Molloy Division.
Valeria Wiens '13 was the lone Dartmouth representative in the Ramsay Division the highest division consisting of the top 32 female college players in the country. In her first match against Cornell University's Jaime Laird, Wiens found herself in an early 2-0 hole after losing the first two games, 11-7 and 11-9. With her back against the wall, Wiens dominated the rest of the match, winning the final three games by scores of 11-5, 11-9 and 11-7.
In her second-round match, Wiens confronted Williams College senior Toby Eyre. For the second match in a row, Wiens was able to battle back from a 2-0 deficit and tie the match at two games apiece. Eyre outlasted Wiens, however, and won the fifth and final game by a score of 11-7.
"[Wiens] did very well in her matches and also played very well in the consolation bracket," Schafer said. "Hopefully she will finish top-20 in the country."
On the men's side, Nick Sisodia '12 and Chris Hanson '13 competed in the Pool Division. Sisodia drew a tough first-round opponent in Harvard University's Colin West and lost the match in straight sets by a margin of 11-6, 11-7 and 11-6. West went on to win his first individual championship.
"[West] is a tremendous player," Sisodia said. "He plays at a brutal pace. I just wanted to give him a hard time and a good challenge."
In his opening match, Hanson was paired up against John Roberts of Yale University and won easily with scores of 11-3, 11-8 and 11-3. In the second round, Antonio Diaz Glez from Trinity College ended Hanson's tournament run by scores of 11-3, 11-8 and 11-3, en route to a semifinal appearance in the tournament.
In the consolation brackets, Sisodia advanced to the final of his group before his opponent dropped out due to a medical condition, while Hanson was able to win his consolation group. In the CSA end-of-season rankings, Hanson earned ninth and Sisodia ranked 17th in the tournament.
"[This tournament] is by far the best I've ever played in college," Sisodia said. "It was a great way to end the season."
Competing in the B-division, Maycock breezed through his first-round match against, 11-6, 11-0 and 11-5.
Going up against Rochester University's Joe Chapman in the second round, Maycock won the first two games by scores of 11-8 and 11-8. Chapman, however, would not go down without a fight he evened the match after winning the next two games, 11-7 and 18-16.
In the deciding game, Maycock was able to seize back the momentum and win the game by a score of 11-5.
Schafer, Libbey Brown '10 and Becky Lau '13 competed in the B-division on the women's side. Playing in her final collegiate squash tournament, Brown defeated her first-round opponent, Tempest Bowden of Mount Holyoke College, 3-1, but fell to Bowdoin College's Lauren Gesswein in three straight sets in the second round.
Top-seeded Schafer received a bye in the first round and played her first match against the Lyons' Shara Robertson. After an evenly-matched start, Schafer was able to pull out a tough victory in five games.
Schafer then faced University of Pennsylvania senior Christina Mathias in the round of 16. In a very close match, Schafer won the first two games, both by scores of 12-10. After dropping the third game, Schafer was victorious in the fourth game and punched her ticket into the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, Schafer ran into Harvard senior Katherine O'Donnell and lost the match, 11-7, 11-4 and 11-7. O'Donnell later advanced to win the Holleran Division.
"I knew the competition was going to be really good and every match was going to be a challenge," Schafer said. "Overall, I was very happy with how things went."
No. 5 seed Lau also received a first-round bye. In her first match, Lau blanked Laurian Lue Yen of Mount Holyoke, winning all three games, 11-0. Lau then lost her next match in four games to Annie Madeira of the Quakers.
The CSA Individual Championships marks the official end of the squash season for both the Big Green men's and women's teams. The teams will announce their new captains today and begin training for next season after spring break.
