Women’s Squash Wins Two of Three Difficult Matches

CAM CHOTTINER ’20
STAFF WRITER
This past week, the no. 3 ranked Trinity Bantam Women’s Squash team had a full slate of matches as they took on Yale, Stanford and defending national champions, Harvard. The women began the action-packed matches with no. 5 ranked Yale. The Bantams came out firing, with the top eight Trinity players dominating their matches en route to an 8-1 pounding of the Yale Bulldogs. Jenny Haley ’19 closed out the match with a grueling comeback win in the seven spot in the lineup. After falling behind 0-2, Haley made a valiant comeback, winning the next three games by scores of 11-5, 11-9 and 11-4.
Two days later the Bantams took on the #4 ranked Stanford Cardinal at home in a thriller. The Bantams showed no mercy on Stanford, and sent them back to California with a loss as Trinity won 5-4. Min Jie Teh ’21 stayed perfect individually on the year as she swept her opponent, helping the team to its fifth straight victory. The Bantams clinched the match after storming out to a 5-1 lead before Stanford won the final three matches to almost complete the comeback.
Next up for the Bantams came arguably their toughest challenge of the regular season, squaring off at home against the no. 2 ranked, and defending CSA National Champion Harvard Crimson. Unfortunately, the Crimso

n proved to be too tough to handle as Trinity fell by a score of 8-1. Though many of the matches were close, Vanessa Raj ’20 was the only Bantam to emerge victorious. Min Jie Teh’s perfect season also came to an end against Harvard, giving the rookie her first loss as a Bantam.
On Feb. 3, the Bantams began the NESCAC Championship against the host Hamilton Continentals. Improving their all-time record in NESCAC tournament play to 35-0, the Bantams broke the home teams’ hearts with a crushing 7-2 victory. In similar fashion later that day against the Amherst Mammoths in the semifinal, Trinity handed over yet another 7-2 score line to advance to the final on Super Bowl Sunday against the Williams Ephs.
During the final, the Bantams won by a score of 7-2 once again. The victory clinched their 12th consecutive NESCAC title, a phenomenal feat in such a competitive sport. The Bantams (with their tremendous 12-2 record) are currently ranked no. 3 in the country behind only Harvard at no. 2, and Princeton at no. 1. Trinity’s only losses this year have come against the Harvard Crimson and an extremely close, early season defeat at the hands of the Princeton Tigers. Up next for the women is the CSA National Championships at Harvard.