US Junior Women’s Team Defeats NYAC Men - Sobhy, Blatchford Lose
from DailySquashReport.com
July 13, 2011 - The US Women's Junior team defeated a New York Athletic Club men’s lineup 4-2 Monday night, but the NYAC prevailed in the top two showcase matches.
Tim Wyant beat defending World Junior champion and WISPA #21 Amanda Sobhy 3-1 at the #1 spot, and Josh Schwartz beat WISPA #36 Olivia Blatchford 3-1 at #2.
The US junior women swept the bottom four matches.
At #3, Sabrina Sobhy took the first two games against the AC’s Joe Cohen, with Cohen fighting back and pushing it to five before fading and losing 3-2.
At #4, Ryan Byrnes won the first game against Haley Mendez, but Haley won the critical 3rd game 15-13 and went on to win in four.
At #5 and #6, Olivia Fiechter and Julianne Chu (playing in place of Maria Ubina) proved too quick and fit for their NYAC opponents, as Fiechter beat Todd Ostrow 3-1 and Chu straight-setted Michael Ross.
It was, however, the top two match-ups that proved the most intriguing of the evening.
Wyant and Schwartz, both former top collegiate players but currently hardball doubles specialists, put themselves on the line in essentially “no win” situations against the teenage sensations Sobhy and Blatchford.
Schwartz captured the first game convincingly against Blatchford, who played a tighter second game and forced Josh into enough errors to knot the match at 1-all. The third and fourth games were closely contested, with long points, but Schwartz’s volleying and length proved too good and he closed it out 3-1.
In the top match, Wyant started strong and dominated the first two games. Sobhy took the third, as she began moving Tim around. The fourth game was the most dramatic of the night, as the players traded grinding points until Wyant finally surged ahead to a 10-8 match-ball. Amanda fought back through two tough rallies and knotted it at 10-all. Wyant was visibly winded and the entire crowd could hear him breathing heavily. But the savvy veteran reached deep and eked out the game and match, 12-10 in the fourth.
After the matches, Schwartz admitted that he and Wyant had been nervous all day in anticipation of taking on Sobhy and Blatchford.
The event, hosted by Pat Canavan and the NYAC pros, was part of a series of US team preparation matches for the July 20th World Juniors in Boston.
The team is coached by former World #1 Natalie Grainger and Penn head coach Jack Wyant.
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