HARVARD, Mass. (Feb. 25, 2012) – The sixth-seeded Mount Holyoke College squash team picked up a thrilling 6-3 triumph over seventh-seeded Hamilton College this afternoon at 2012 College Squash Association National Championships. With the win, the Lyons secured a spot in the Kurtz Cup (B Division) Consolation Championship. They will face off against fifth-seeded Columbia University tomorrow at 8:30 a.m.
Mount Holyoke swept the first set of matches to gain control in the early going. Sophomore Shaheen Madraswala got the Lyons on the board with an overwhelming 3-0 victory at the third slot. Senior Paulina Rojek and junior Kathryn Brummer then added to the lead with a pair of 3-1 wins. Rojek was particularly impressive in the fourth game of her number nine match. After jumping out to a 7-0 advantage, she won by a score of 11-2.
Refusing to go away, Hamilton used shutout victories by Hannah Coffin and Elizabeth Morris to slice the deficit to 3-2.
Senior Shara Robertson put Mount Holyoke back in the driver's seat with an epic 3-2 triumph over Hilary Gray in the number two contest. After falling behind 2-1, the captain rallied for an 11-5 win in the fourth game. She then completed the comeback with an 11-3 victory in the fifth game to put the Lyons in front 4-2.
Hamilton (10-9) once again made things interesting with a 3-2 win by Isabelle Weisman.
From there, it was all Mount Holyoke. Sophomore Katrina Intal sealed the match with a 3-1 triumph at the fourth slot. Classmate Randima Ranaweera then capped things off with a dominant 3-0 victory at the top of the lineup.
The Lyons will enter tomorrow's Consolation Championship with an overall record of 17-10. It will be their first match against Columbia this season. The two teams were scheduled to meet at the Pioneer Valley Invitational in January, but a winter storm prevented the Lions from making the trip to South Hadley. After rolling to a 9-0 triumph over Columbia two seasons ago, Mount Holyoke fell 6-3 last year.
Champions in each of the tournament's four subdivisions will be crowned tomorrow. All Kurtz Cup matches are being played at Harvard University's Murr Center.