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SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – It was an incredible spring season for the Mount Holyoke College Ultimate Frisbee team, which finished the year ranked third among all Division III club programs, and 61st overall across all divisions. The squad represented MHC once again at the Ultimate National Championships, finishing 11th overall in an outstanding field of 26 teams.
Led by head coach Evan Johnson, Mount Holyoke produced a 22-8 record this spring. Members of the team who competed at Nationals include Molly Morgan, Sophey Dong, Ada Schnake, Bernadette Norman, Kalin Hanson, Alaina McGinley, Katrina Meserve, Rose Dennis, Elizabeth Nelson, Tahlia Hodes, Hyeji Kim, Chloe Martin-Poteet, Mary Margaret Meenehan, Alice Richardson, Annakate Schatz, Erika Tai and Michelle Wellman.
MHC opened the season on March 6, winning its first competition with key victories against local rivals, UMass-Amherst, Amherst and Williams.
Mount Holyoke went on to compete at the Jersey Devils Tournament from March 26 through 27. It was a weekend of tough competition, but the team held strong with victories over Columbia University (13-1), Haverford College (13-6), Rutgers University (8-5), Northeastern University (13-0), Brandeis University (13-0) and West Chester (9-2). The only loss of the weekend – and the season – came against Ottawa (13-2).
The squad followed that up with a huge weekend on April 2, besting Bentley University (13-3), SUNY Buffalo (13-3), then-#1 Bowdoin (13-0) and Rhode Island (13-5). MHC's win over Bowdoin proved to be the tipping point as the Polar Bears fell out of the top spot among Division III teams, allowing Mount Holyoke to slide into first in the nation.
MHC didn't slow down from there, competing at the South New England Division III Women's Conference Championship from April 16-17 in Williamstown, Mass. The squad posted a 5-2 record at the event, including wins over Amherst (13-8 & 11-9), Smith (13-2), Clark (13-5) and WPI (13-5). That strong effort secured the team's bid to the regional championships.
At the New England Division III Women's Regionals, held April 30-May 1 in Williamstown, MHC played hard against the region's best in the hopes of securing one of four bids to Nationals. The team posted a 4-2 mark at the event, besting Brandeis (12-4), Smith (12-2), Stonehill (15-4) and Wellesley (9-6). Their outstanding performance earned them the fourth and final spot for the College National Championships.
The team headed to Winston-Salem, N.C., on May 21-22 opening the first day of action with a 15-6 win against Georgia College. MHC then defeated Wesleyan, 13-9, but closed out the afternoon with a tough loss to St. Olaf, 11-7.
On day two, the team battled hard, but suffered a 15-10 loss to Carleton College-Eclipse – the eventual National Champions. MHC rebounded with an 11-10 victory against Valparaiso, but shouldered an 8-4 loss to Wesleyan to finish the tournament in 11th overall.
Highlighting the effort at Nationals was Katrina Meserve, who notched 13 goals and three assists. Sophey Dong added 11 goals and two assists, while Tahlia Hodes had nine goals and six assists. Molly Morgan posted seven goals with a team-high 20 assists, while Rose Dennis had three goals and 17 assists.
Photo courtesy of Rachel Fink.