HANOVER, N.H. (March 7, 2011) – Five members of the Mount Holyoke College women's squash team competed in the 2011 College Squash Association Individual Championships at Dartmouth College over the weekend. On the women's side of the event, there were two divisions - Ramsay Cup (A draw) and Holleran Cup (B draw). All five Mount Holyoke entrants competed for the Holleran Cup.
Highlighting the weekend for the Lyons was Vidushi Gurunada, who posted a 4-2 mark. Over the course of competition, the senior knocked off three players ranked higher than her. She got things going with a 3-0 triumph over Jenn Hearn (St. Lawrence - #1) in the round of 64. After upsetting Courtney Bogle (Williams - #1) by a score of 3-2 in the round of 32, Gurunada fell 3-1to Alex Sawin (Princeton - #6) in the round of 16. Sawin advanced all the way to the Holleran Cup Championship, where she was downed in four games by teammate Katherine Giovinazzo (Princeton - #5).
Gurunada bounced back with a pair of wins in the third round consolation bracket. She topped Lauren Gesswein (Bowdoin - #1) 3-1 in the quarterfinals and Jackie Shea (George Washington - #1) 3-0 in the semifinals. With those wins, she moved onto the third round consolation finals, where she suffered a 3-0 setback to Courtney Jones (Pennsylvania - #6).
Joining Gurunada in the round of 16 were sophomore Shara Robertson and first year Randima Ranaweera.
After receiving a first round bye, Robertson cruised to a 3-0 triumph over Liz Chu (Columbia - #1) in the round of 32. She was edged 3-1 by Casey Cortes (Princeton - #8) in the round of 16 before falling 3-0 to Shea in the quarterfinal round of the third round consolation bracket.
Ranaweera followed the same path. After her first round bye, she picked up a convincing 3-0 victory over Andrea Echeverria (Trinity - #8) in the round of 32. She was knocked out 3-0 by Giovinazzo in the round of 16 and then dropped a 3-0 decision to Jones in the third round consolation quarterfinals.
Mount Holyoke's remaining two competitors both posted 2-2 marks.
After falling 3-0 to Kelly Barnes (George Washington - #2) in the opening round, first year Shaheen Madraswala rebounded with two straight wins in the first round consolation bracket. In the round of 16, she handed Chelsea Ross (Franklin and Marshall - #2) a 3-0 setback. Madraswala followed that up with a 3-1 triumph over Samantha Matos (Bates - #5) in the quarterfinals. Her weekend ended in heartbreak. After splitting the first four games of her semifinal round contest against Kathryn Bostwick (Middlebury - #4), she was clipped 12-10 in the fifth.
Sophomore Tempest Bowden also advanced to the semifinal round of the first round consolation bracket after falling 3-1 to Mary Foster (Wesleyan - #1) her opener. In the first round consolation round of 16, she easily defeated Hearn 3-0. She then topped Virginia Shannon (Middlebury - #3) 3-0 in the quarterfinals before falling 3-1 to Carolyn Tilney (Brown - #4) in the semifinals. Tilney went on to win the bracket. With her victory over Shannon, Bowden exacted revenge for a 3-0 setback during the regular season.
The Lyons rounded out their 2010-11 campaign with an overall record of 14-12. They closed out their season at the CSA National Championships, where they secured 12th place nationally. For the second season in a row, five Mount Holyoke players will finish within the top 100 in the nation.
