Ephs Avenge Last Year’s Loss, Beat Dartmouth 7-2

Hanover, NH — After a heartbreaking 5-4 defeat at their home courts last season, the Williams women’s squash team took care of business, downing the Big Green at Dartmouth Wednesday night, 7-2.

Playing on a three-court system, junior Caroline Henry started the night off right with a quick 3-0 victory over Allie Bradford. Number five Claire Hsu followed suit with an easy win over the same opponent that she lost to in four games the year before, this time dropping only five points.

Junior Julia Reiser came back from behind in every game to pull out a 3-0 win at the number nine spot, while on the top court freshman Courtney Bogle battled an experienced Dartmouth opponent before dropping a 3-1 decision. Playing at the number eight position, senior Stephanie Barnet was next off court with a hard-fought five-game victory, in which she showed her stamina and toughness in battling back from a 2-1 game deficit to finish out her match.

With Williams up four matches to Dartmouth’s one, senior Madeline Lurio fought for her team, taking the only other Dartmouth win for the night at the number two position against junior Jennifer Coxe. However, a quick 3-0 win by co-captain Toby Eyre at the number one spot, in which she only dropped two points to a visibly injured Dartmouth opponent, clinched the victory for the Ephs. That did not stop the battles that raged on court for the number four and seven spots. After taking the first two games, and dropping the next two, co-captain Arianna Kourides showed the same grit and athleticism that has defined her career to win out 9-6 in the fifth game. Sophomore Kavitha Mannava also clinched a win after dropping the second game to the same opponent that she lost to last season in five.

Though ecstatic about their win over the long-time rival, the Ephs are looking ahead to their next challenges, including a match against Cornell University on Sunday, and matches against Stanford and Brown in the weeks following. Nevertheless, head coach Zafi Levy was enthusiastic about the win, telling his team that the match was one of the best in Williams’ squash history.

Williams  7,  Dartmouth  2

1. Toby Eyre (W) def. Hanna Conant (D) 9-0, 9-2, 9-0
2. Madeline Lurio (D) def. Jennifer Coxe (W) 9-5, 9-6, 9-3
3. Elizabeth Brown (D) def. Courtney Bogle (W) 3-9, 9-6, 9-7, 9-5
4. Arianna Kourides (W) def. Maura Doherty (D) 10-8, 9-1, 3-9, 3-9, 9-6
5. Claire Hsu (W) def. Taylor Tully (D) 9-5, 9-0, 9-0
6. Caroline Henry (W) def. Allie Bradford (D) 9-1, 9-6, 9-5
7. Kavitha Mannava (W) def. Elizabeth Weintraub (D) 9-7, 4-9, 9-7, 9-5
8. Stephanie Barnet (W) def. Caroline Lindseth (D) 9-2, 7-9, 3-9, 9-3, 9-7
9. Julia Reiser (W) def Danielle Fuschetti (D) 10-8, 9-5, 9-7
10. Carolyn Kaemmer (W) def. Jula Watson (D) 7-9, 9-10, 9-4, 9-4, 9-6