Coming off of a disappointing performance at the Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference Championships in early February, the Georgetown squash team returned to the home court with two matches. The Hoyas split the weekend series, defeating No. 31 Denison University 9-0 on Saturday, Feb. 12, before falling to No. 21 Dickinson College on Sunday, Feb. 13. As Georgetown’s first home match of the season, the weekend was a welcoming experience after traveling on the road for the past five weekends.
With a win and a loss, Georgetown’s record moves to 8-12 before the season closes with the College Squash Association National Championships next weekend. Despite their sub-500 record, they currently sit as the No. 25 ranked team in the nation.
The Saturday match began at 9 a.m. at Squash on Fire, a squash club located in the West End neighborhood of Washington, D.C. To kick off the action, sophomore Caroline Wilcox defeated Denison’s (1-6) Antoinette Ramsey 11-4, 11-2, 13-11 to give Georgetown (8-12) a 1-0 lead. Senior Cornelia Thomas followed suit, defeating Charlotte Sigg 11-0, 11-3, 11-3.
Senior Julia Sachman added yet another impressive victory for Georgetown, defeating Jaz’mene Little 11-2, 11-3, 11-2.
With the Hoyas’ top three players winning the top of the ladder, the rest of the team built on the momentum to win each of the remaining six matches. Junior Margaret Rand and first-year Chloe Kim delivered strong performances with 11-2, 11-3, 11-1 and 11-2, 11-1, 11-2, respectively.
Wilcox remarked that playing at home for the first time provided a much-needed boost for the Hoya team.
“We’ve been traveling every weekend since January 15 so it was very fun and refreshing for everyone to be home and have lots of people come on Saturday. There was a lot of crowd energy and buzz,” Wilcox said.
Saturday’s match against Denison was also senior day, with the team honoring six seniors and one graduate student for their leadership and commitment to the program during one of their final home matches. These seniors witnessed the squash program transition from a club sport for the first three years of their career to a varsity sport in their final season.
In addition to a strong showing from the seniors, the Hoyas’ younger players also performed well. With both starting first-years and the team’s sole sophomore winning, Georgetown’s future in squash is secure.
After the impressive 9-0 Saturday victory, the Hoyas faced a quick turnaround, going up against a strong Dickinson team on Sunday afternoon. This was the second matchup between the Hoyas and Red Devils in seven days, with Dickinson winning 9-0 on Feb. 6 in the final match of the Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference Championships. Dickinson sits four spots ahead of Georgetown in the national rankings at No. 21.
Unfortunately for Georgetown, Sunday’s matchup proved to be the same result as the Hoyas fell 9-0 once again. Despite being ranked just four spots away from Dickinson in the national rankings, Georgetown was unable to come out victorious for the second consecutive time.
While the final match total proved to be a disappointment, Georgetown fought hard and played much better, keeping many of the individual matchups extremely close. Senior Feagin, first-year Nina Flinn, Kim and first-year Catherine Friendly all forced four game sets in a much more competitive overall team effort than the first matchup. The team is trending in the right direction before its final games of the season.
After the tumultuous weekend, the Hoyas will now prepare for the final event of the squad’s inaugural season as a varsity team: the College Squash Association National Championships at Harvard University and Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts.
Georgetown will have one final opportunity to compete against the best squash teams in the nation to be crowned collegiate national champion. The event is scheduled to begin Feb. 26th.
