Trinity Women's Squash Draws Yale In Howe Cup Opener
by David Kingsley
Hartford, Conn., Feb. 14 - The Trinity College women’s squash team, which finished the 2012-13 regular season with a 14-2 record that included three victories the first weekend in February to capture its seventh consecutive New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) title, will be the No. 4 seed at the College Squash Association (CSA) Team Championships (Howe Cup) this weekend at Yale University. The Bantams will play against the No. 5-seeded Yale Bulldogs, also the event hosts, in the quarterfinal round on Friday, February 15 at 1:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to the semifinals the next day at 1:30 p.m., and the finals scheduled for Sunday, February 17 at 1 p.m.
The Howe Cup consists of the top eight teams in intercollegiate squash in a three-round, single elimination tournament. Trinity, coached by Wendy Bartlett (29th season, 320-89), has been to the Howe Cup Finals four times and won the national title in 2002 and 2003. The Bantams finished third in the Howe Cup in 2011-12 with a 6-3 win over higher-seeded Pennsylvania in the quarterfinals, a 9-0 loss to eventual-champion Harvard in the semifinals, and a 7-2 win against Princeton in the third-place match. Princeton is the tournament’s No. 1 seed, while Harvard is No. 2, and Pennsylvania is No. 3. Each of the top five seeds possess the talent to win the national crown. Trinity won at home against Yale, 5-4, on January 23, but lost at Pennsylvania, 6-3, in early January and at Harvard, 7-2, on February 6.
Trinity has a combined individual dual match record of 117-27 in its 16 matches this year, and sophomore Natale Babjukova )Prague, Czech Republic) is flawless in 16 individual matches in the middle of the Bantam lineup. First-year Kanzy El-Defrawy (Cairo, Egypt) is 13-1 at the No. 1 spot for Trinity, while fellow rookie Sachika Balvani (Mumbai, India) is 14-2, junior Wee Nee Low (Penang, Malaysia) is 11-2, and sophomores Chanel Erasmus (Capetown, South Africa) and Ashley Tidman (Lamor-Plage, France) are both 12-4. Junior Jennifer Pelletier (Richmond Hill, Ontario) and junior tri-captain Catalina Pelaez (Bogota, Colombia) are 8-3 and 6-3, respectively, since returning from semesters spent studying abroad, while senior tri-captain Robyn Hodgson (Aberdeen, Scotland) is 7-4.
Yale, was 11-4 in dual matches this winter, including setbacks against each of the top four seeds. DeFrawy earned a dramatic, 3-2 triumph over Bulldog senior Millie Tomlinson in the final match to give the Bantams their fifth point in the regular-season win over Yale.
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