Trinity Women's Squash Ranked No. 2 Nationally As Howe Cup Title Defense Starts This Weekend by David Kingsley November 11, 2014 Hartford, Conn.
- The Trinity College women's squash team, coached by Wendy Bartlett
(31st Season), will begin to defend its College Squash Association
(CSA) National Championship (Howe Cup) title on Saturday, November 15
against Bates. The Bantams completed an historic season in
2012-13, finishing with a 16-1 record and downing previously-undefeated
Harvard, 5-4, in the Howe Cup Finals to capture the program's third
national crown and its first since 2003.
Trinity is ranked No. 2 in the 2014-15 College Squash Association (CSA)
Pre-Season National Poll, and will vie for the Howe Cup with top-ranked
Harvard, No. 3-ranked Pennsylvania, No. 4-ranked Yale, and No. 5-ranked
Princeton once again. Trinity, which also captured its eighth
consecutive New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC)
Championship crown in February, must replace Richey Award winner
Catalina Pelaez and fellow all-American Wee Nee Low and Jennifer
Pelletier who were each lost to graduation, but returns two-time CSA
National Singles Runner-Up Kanzy El-Defrawy along with senior
co-captains Natalie Babjukova (Prague, Czech Republic) and Ashley
Tidman (Lamor-Plage, France) to lead the charge.
"Coming back as champions, our returning players have worked just as
hard to repeat as they did to win last year ," says Bartlett. "I am
extremely pleased with our work both in the off-season and in
pre-season. I think we are ready for another exciting year"
El Defrawy is firmly entrenched as the nation's No. 2-ranked player,
having posted a 29-8 overall record in two seasons and a 29-2 mark
against everyone but three-time defending CSA National Singles Champion
Amanda Sobhy, of Harvard. Babjukova and Tidman are remarkably
consistent in the middle of the lineup with an 89-29 combined record
between them the last three years, while fellow senior Chanel Erasmus
(Capetown, South Africa) is 30-26 in three years holding down the No. 9
spot. Both captains won vital matches in the Howe Cup Finals
against Harvard last winter, while Tidman finished as the nation's No.
24-ranked player in 2013-14.
Sophomore Anna Kimberley (Colchester, England) burst on the scene as a
rookie to earn All-American honors and post a perfect 14-0 record in
dual matches. Fresh off winning the clinching match in the Howe
Cup Finals against Harvard, Kimberley should give Trinity an excellent
chance wherever she falls in the top half. She was ranked as the
nation's No. 12 player at the end of last season. Junior Sachika
Balvani (Mumbai, India) is a clutch performer with many pivotal wins
included among her 31-9 career mark, while sophomore Alexia Echeverria
(San Salvador, El Salvador) looks to build on a promising rookie
campaign that saw her win all 10 of her varsity matches.
Junior Katiria
Sanchez<http://athletics.trincoll.edu/sports/wsquash/2013-14/bios/SANCHEZ_KATIRIA>
(Bronx, N.Y.) has been reliable in varsity matches as a rookie with a
15-4 record, and sophomore Brice
Rothenberg<http://athletics.trincoll.edu/sports/wsquash/2013-14/bios/ROTHENBERG_BRICE>
(Brooklyn, N.Y.) also provides quality depth. Rookies Salma El
Defrawy (Cairo, Egypt), Kanzy's younger sister, and Karolina Holinkova
(Krnov, Czech Republic) should both have an immediate impact on the
team's success.
