Link to Video Highlights from today's match
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (Feb. 15, 2013) - Mount Holyoke College battled to the very end, but came up short in a 5-4 loss to Drexel University in the Quarterfinals of the Walker Cup (C Division) at the CSA National Championships, hosted by Yale University at the Brady Squash Center. The Dragons, who entered the contest ranked 21st in the nation, improve to 8-9 overall and will face #17 Wesleyan on Saturday at 11am in one of two semifinals. The 20th-ranked Lyons slip to 9-9 on the season and will now face familiar foe, Wellesley, also at 11am on Saturday in the consolation bracket.
It was an exciting match to get the tournament going as the two teams were neck-and-neck throughout the match. As the final match was on court, the score was tied 4-all, coming down to a battle in the fourth position between MHC's Samantha Rosado and Drexel's Laura Rahauser. Facing a 2-1 deficit, Rosado grabbed key points to even the match at 2-2 with an 11-9 win in the fourth set to force a fifth. Despite the momentum, Rosado could not hold off Rahauser, who stormed back into things for an 11-6 win and the match victory (11-6, 4-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6).
Junior Shaheen Madraswala got the Lyons on the board to open the day as she cruised to an 11-2, 11-5, 11-5 victory over the Dragons' Katie Barnes. Drexel grabbed a 2-1 advantage with wins in the sixth and ninth positions, but Mount Holyoke fought back as senior captain Kathryn Brummer posted a hard-fought, come-from-behind 12-10, 11-8, 12-10 fifth position victory against Kiran Vasudevan and first year Sherouk Khefagy defeated Kaitlyn Money, 11-8, 11-9, 11-5 in the second position to make it 3-all.
A loss in the seventh position saw the Lyons down 3-4, but junior captain Randima Ranaweera continued her stellar season with an 11-9, 11-8, 11-6 win at the first position over Damindhi Udangawa to tie it and set up the deciding match.
Ranaweera improved to 15-1 on the season in today's match with all games being played from the first position. Madraswala improved to 13-2 overall, including an 11-2 mark from the third position, while Khefagy is now 14-4 with a 12-4 mark at the second position. Additionally, Brummer moved to 9-6 in her final season.
