AMHERST - Seventh seeded Bowdoin College edged sixth-seed Tufts University 5-4 in a NESCAC Women's Squash Championship consolation match played at Amherst College on Saturday afternoon.
The Polar Bears (6-9) advance to play in the fifth-place game against host Amherst tomorrow at 9 a.m. The Jumbos (14-5) will also play at 9 a.m. Sunday in the seventh-place game against Colby College.
Both teams dropped into the consolation bracket with 9-0 losses in the conference quarterfinals on Saturday morning, Tufts to Middlebury and Bowdoin against Williams. Tufts entered the weekend as the #19 ranked team in the College Squash Association poll and Bowdoin was at #21. However, the Polar Bears won the top five matches today to upend Tufts.
Five of today's matches between the teams went to four games, with the Polar Bears taking three and Tufts winning two. In all five of those matches, the eventual winner had a 2-0 lead before dropping the third game.
The tightest matches were played at #3 and #7. Bowdoin's Alexa Horwitz took an 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5 win over Jumbo freshman Catherine Shanahan in the third match. Tufts freshman Sahar Tirmizi was an 11-6, 13-11, 9-11, 11-6 winner over Polar Bear Zoe Wood in the seventh contest.
The other four-game winners were Bowdoin's Lindsey Bindra at #2, Bowdoin's Chloe Polikoff at #5 and Tufts' Chista Irani at #8.
Tufts sophomore Olivia Ladd-Luthringshauser had the most convincing victory of the match at #6 where she defeated Bowdoin's Laura Howells 11-4, 11-6, 11-4. Bowdoin's Sarah Nelson took the top match against Jumbo Claire Davidson 11-1, 11-6, 11-9.
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