AMHERST - The 14th-ranked Middlebury College women's squash team advanced to the NESCAC semi-finals with a 9-0 win against #19 Tufts in a conference quarterfinal match played at Amherst College on Saturday morning.
The #3 seed Panthers (9-7) advance to play Williams College in the semi-final round later on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The sixth-seeded Jumbos (14-4) fall into the consolation bracket and will play #7 seed Bowdoin on Saturday at 3:30 pm.
Head coach Joe McManus' Tufts team advanced to the quarterfinals with a 9-0 victory over #11 seed Connecticut College in opening-round action on Friday. That marked Tufts' first appearance in the conference round of eight since 2009. However, the Jumbos were swept in eight of the nine matches versus Middlebury today. The Panthers had earned a first-round bye.
Tufts freshman Claire Davidson went four games in the #1 match against Middlebury's Beatrijs Kuijpers. Davidson stayed alive with an 11-9 win in the fourth game before Kuijpers clinched the victory with an 11-6 final in game four.
Freshman #7 Sahar Tirmizi, junior #5 Lauren Banner and sophomore #8 Chista Irani all played competitive three-game matches for Tufts. Termizi totaled 25 points in her 11-7, 11-7, 13-11 loss to Middlebury's Audrey Ellen. Banner fell 11-3, 11-9, 13-11 to Panther Mira Chugh. Irani's 12-10 second-game loss was surrounded by a pair of 11-5 defeats to Caroline Jahrling of Middlebury.
In the third match, Tufts freshman Catherine Shanahan nearly won the first game before falling 13-11 to Alex Comai.
Fourth-seed Bates and top seed Trinity play in the other conference semi-final on Saturday. The winners will meet for the NESCAC Championship on Sunday at 3 pm.
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