PRINCETON, N.J. - The Tufts University women's squash team had an exciting 5-4 victory over Colby College in the consolation round of the Walker Cup division at the annual Howe Cup team championships hosted by Princeton University on Saturday.
Tufts and Colby were meeting for the third time this season. The Mules had won 5-4 matches both previous times, on January 28 and at the NESCAC Championships February 5. The third time was the charm on Saturday for the Jumbos, who improved to 8-14 with the victory.
Sophomore Jess Rubine (Cranston, RI) and junior Alyse Vinoski (West Hartford, CT) won in three games for Tufts with very consistent play at #4 and #5, respectively. Sophomore Ushashi Basu (Darien, CT) won the first two games in the sixth match before Colby's Coco Cowan took the third game. Basu went extra to win in four games 14-12.
Senior co-captain Val Koo (Hong Kong, China) lost in four tough games at #2. Sophomore Caitlin Doherty (Topsfield, MA) played a great match at #9 giving Tufts one more point, wining 3-2.
At this time, the score was 4-3 Tufts. Playing in competitive and decisive matches, junior #1 Alix Michael (Mercer Island, WA) and junior co-captain #2 Mercedes Barba (New York, NY), both were playing their fith game at the same time. Barba lost in her fifth game 11-9 to even the match score at 4-4. After a long and tiring rally, Michael took the fifth game in her match to give Tufts the victory.
The Jumbos will finish their team schedule tomorrow against Vassar in the consolation final of the Walker Cup at 11:00 am.
Match Results
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