WELLESLEY, Mass. -- With the match score knotted at 4-4, Emaline Surgenor picked up a 3-1 win to lead the Wellesley College squash team to a thrilling 5-4 victory over Boston College in front of a rowdy home crowd on Friday Night at the Dana Hall Squash Courts.
After dropping the first game 8-11, Surgenor rallied for three straight wins (11-9, 11-9, 11-7) to seal Wellesley's 5-4 team victory. The win sets the Blue's final regular season record to 6-18, including a fantastic 5-1 mark on their home turf.
The evening began with Wellesley taking two of the first three matches. The Blue's Emma Haley picked up an 11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 11-8 victory over Jen Noesen in the second flight, while Jennifer Hsu made quick work of Gina Giuggio at eight, winning 11-3, 11-8, 11-2. Wellesley's Margot Sulmont opened her match against Kate Gorgi with an 11-5 victory, but Gorgi toughed out the final three games (11-5, 11-7, 11-7) to give BC the point.
Boston College then evened the match at 3-3, taking two out of the three second round matches. The Eagle's Helen Whelan defeated Dorothy Vickery 11-6, 9-11, 11-2, 11-3 at three, while Audrey Guerrero was a 13-11, 5-11, 14-12, 11-9 winner over Charlene Lee at nine. Wellesley's Haley Vasquez picked up the Blue's only win of the rotation at the sixth spot (9-11, 20-18, 11-6, 8-11, 11-5), including a marathon 20-18 second game win that propelled her to the 3-2 victory.
In the final rotation, Wellesley's Rosemary O'Connor cruised to a 11-6, 11-2, 11-5 win over Lilly Havens to give the Blue a 4-3 edge. However, BC's Jennifer Sciarra defeated Cara Kaufman 11-9, 10-12, 11-1, 11-8, to again tie the score and set up Surgenor's thrilling victory over Julia Nary in the fifth spot.
Before the match, Wellesley celebrated "Senior Day," honoring Allie Ewing, class of 2011. Sidelined because of injury, Ewing is a three-year member of the varsity squash team and also rows for the varsity crew team. A political science major, she plans to work as a paralegal before entering law school.
Wellesley squash will next compete at the Howe Cup National Championships at Princeton on February 18th, 19th and 20th. Seedings and schedule for the tournament will be available at http://collegesquashassociation.com/coaches/championship-info/ early next week.
From the Assistant Coach, Dave Renninger:
Dana Hall, Friday, February 12th
When Boston College visited Wellesley's home courts on Friday, the Howe Cup tournament was under a week away. This match represented a good chance to build momentum and confidence going into the climax of the season. BC had lost their former #1, but gained a pair of new players at the top of their order, making them a stronger team than the one the Blue faced in their very first match of the season. Wellesley, on the other hand, was without senior Ally Ewing, who had helped them in that opening day 7-2 win over the Eagles. And on a night where 125 friends, family, and fans decked out in blue trekked to the Dana Hall courts to support their team, the women provided a match that was nothing short of thrilling.
Jen Hsu, playing in the #8 spot because of a leg injury, got things started with a strong 3-0 win over Gina Giuggio. Jen has played through injuries before, but this would turn out to be the most important match yet in which she's played through pain. Shortly afterward, Emma Haley finished her four-game victory with a pair of tight games, able to hold off late bursts from Jen Noessen. Haley has improved dramatically over recent weeks, and while her volleys faltered in the third game, she was able to recompose herself in the fourth and claim the win for Wellesley. Co-captain Margo Sulmont, at #4, finished her match moments later, falling to BC's Kate Gorgi. Although Sulmont was able to take advantage of Gorgi's unforced errors in the first game, she was frustrated by an improved serve and increased length from her opponent en route to three straight losses, giving Boston College its first victory of the night.
The second round of matches began with Charlene Lee at the #9 spot facing an intimidating opponent in Audrey Guerrero. Lee's recent efforts to improve her volleys – both in returning serves and in applying pressure during rallies – were visible throughout the match. Yet while she fell just short in an 11-13 first game loss and managed to pick up an impressive 14-12 win in game three, Gurrero ultimately prevailed, tying the match score at two all. Meanwhile, at #3, Dorothy Vickery battled Helen Whelan, Boston College's senior captain. Whelan showed off proficiency in many useful shots, and while Vickery was able to keep the first game close and then win the second, 11-9, Whelan would take control from there, winning the match 3-1. Vickery's season-long efforts to control her power and depth showed through in flashes of brilliance when she was able to put Whelan under considerable pressure, but she found Whelan's pace to be too much and never threatened in the third or fourth games. At #6, Haley Vasquez, who has shot upward from the 9th spot on the ladder, faced Courtney Alpaugh. In a back-and-forth 9-11 first game loss, Vasquez found that her newest weapons – her volleys and drop shots – were not working as effectively as she needed, so she resorted to increased velocity. Alpaugh was able to keep up in the second game, but Vasquez valiantly fought off four game points and come away with a grueling 20-18 win. After Vasquez took the third game, Alpaugh looked gassed, but she caught onto Vasquez's tactics in time to take game four 11-8. Vasquez regrouped, and in the deciding game, added her drops back into the mix, which was enough to grind out an 11-5 win to take the marathon match and bring Wellesley even with BC at three matches each.
Cara Kaufman, playing at #7, had considerable trouble handling Jenny Sciarra's serves, and Sciarra's tennis-style swing was too unpredictable for her comfortable in the match. Sciarra's shots were often either hit off the frame of her racquet or hit with enough wrist flick that Kaufman was kept off balance and was unable to mount a consistent attack. Three of the four games were decided by only two or three points, but Kaufman was able to take only the second, 12-10, as BC took a 4-3 lead in the contest. Rosemary O'Connor, at #1, faced BC's new top seed in Lily Havens. O'Connor enjoyed advantages in speed and mobility, and Havens was forced to try to nullify those advantages by playing a game of anticipation and guessing. O'Connor has recently spent substantial time improving her court awareness and shot selection, and while her signature low, hard cross-court was still her premier weapon, she played intelligent and tactically sound squash, frustrating Havens throughout the quick three-game match, which tied the overall score at four matches apiece.
The final match on court, owing to the incredible duration of Haley Vasquez's match, was co-captain Emaline Surgenor, facing Julia Nary. Surgenor, who had never played in the deciding match of a contest before, fell victim to nerves in the first game. She was unable to keep the ball away from Nary's strong forehand, and Nary took the game 11-8. By this point, all other matches had concluded, and Surgenor was the beneficiary of over 100 supporters cheering her on after every point. In the next three games, Surgenor was able to overcome three early deficits with precision serving – including nine aces – and her signature power from the forehand side, barely trumping Nary's volley drops and cross-court drops to win consecutive games 11-9, 11-9, 11-8 in an exhilarating win. The victory snapped Surgenor's personal streak of lost matches at 13 in the most satisfying way, and she was immediately surrounded by her elated teammates and coaches.
This 5-4 win by the Blue will give them a good seeding in the D division at Howe Cup, which will be played at Princeton next weekend. There the Blue will likely have one more chance to avenge their recent losses to Smith in the early rounds. After their inspired and vitalizing wins against Northeastern and Boston College, the team eagerly looks forward to the opportunity to display their improved skill, strategy, and determination. They'll celebrate this win for the time being, but it's back to business next week in order to try to repeat their recent successes in the season finale at Princeton.
GO BLUE!!
