MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – For the second weekend in a row the No. 25 Tufts women's squash team topped No. 23 Wesleyan, 5-4. The Jumbos also topped the Cardinals last weekend in the NESCAC Championships. With the win the Jumbos should improve their national rankings heading into the College Squash Association's Team Championships next weekend, and possibly jump up a division in the team tournament. The Jumbos also picked up a win over Vassar on Saturday.
With the two wins today the Jumbos move to 12-7 on the year, and have now won six of their last seven matches.
In a very close match with Wesleyan the Jumbos picked up five wins, only two of those coming in three games. Freshman Sahana Karthik needed four games to best Tatum Leclair in the fourth spot, picking up the win, 11-4, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9. In the fifth position, sophomore Lauren Banner went five games with Abigail Smith, but ended up winning, 14-12, 11-9, 9-11, 3-11, 11-3. Classmate Claudia Udolf added a three game win in the sixth position, topping Alexandra Imperiale, 11-3, 11-6, 11-4.
Rookie Chista Irani also picked up a three game win for the Jumbos, topping Alessandra Lampietti in the eighth position, 11-6, 11-6, 11-7. The last win for the Jumbos came in the ninth position as freshman Isabella Libassi beat Tessa Hill in four games, 11-5, 11-6, 3-11, 11-4.
Senior captain Paget Stanco took the courts in the first position, but wasn't able to top her Wesleyan counterpart. Sophomore Zarena Jafry took Liza Bayless to four games in the second position, but wasn't able to come through with a win. Similarly, in the third position, freshman Hannah Burns fell to Bridget Doherty in the third position in four games. Rounding out the Jumbos line up was freshman Sinclair Meggitt in the seventh position, as she fell in four games to her Cardinal counterpart.
Against Vassar the Jumbos were pretty dominant, winning in the second through ninth positions to pick up the 7-2 win. Burns picked up a win for the Jumbos in the third position, topping Jiamin Wu in three games, 11-3, 11-2, 11-1. Karthik also needed just three games to win for the Jumbos in the fourth position, 11-5, 11-7, 11-3.
In the fifth position Irani topped Isabelle Bertram in three games, 11-8, 11-6, 11-3. Sophomore Gabi Salomon won in the sixth position for the Jumbos, 11-3, 11-9, 11-7. Libassi topped Emma Glickman in the seventh position, 11-2, 14-12, 11-7. In the eighth position, freshman Lily Hayes topped Steph Zhu, 12-10, 11-3, 12-10. The last win for the Jumbos came in the ninth position, as sophomore Nellie Harvey lost the first game but came back to beat Kelly Rissman, 6-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-7.
In the first position Stanco fell to Hannah Nice in three games. Jafry took her match in the second position to five games, but wasn't able to top Fiona Agger, falling, 10-12, 11-7, 11-7, 5-11, 11-7.
The Jumbos will be back in action on Friday when they travel to Yale to compete in the College Squash Association Team Championships Friday through Sunday.
