Women's Squash Finishes Fourth at NESCACs

Amherst women’s squash closed out conference competition with a fourth-place finish at the 2022 NESCAC Tournament. Following a dominant 7-2 quarterfinals win against Bates, the Mammoths suffered a 9-0 loss to the Trinity Bantams in the semifinals. In a thrilling third place match against Williams, Amherst lost 5-4 despite putting up a good fight.

The action kicked off on Feb. 12, with first seed Daksha Pathak ’23 leading the top four to decisive wins against the Bobcats. Pathak won her match against Bates’ Andrea Martagon by a score of 3-1. Callie Delalio ’24, Tana Delalio ’24, and Lauren Weil ’23 followed their teammate in the second through fourth matches with consistent and commanding triumphs. Keeley Osborn ’22 played a particularly notable match, going 3-2 in the longest match of that evening’s play, clocking in at a full 55 minutes (8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 14-12, 11-9).

Later that same day, the Mammoths returned for another match against top-seeded Trinity. Trinity proved the seeding correct — Amherst was unable to win a single one of the 27 games. Amherst’s Isabelle Tilney-Sandberg ’25 put up an especially good fight, lasting 21 minutes in a closely-fought match against her opponent, Madeleine Hylland.

The Mammoths did not have time to mourn their loss, though. The next day, Amherst was back in action, competing for third place against rival Williams. Pathak led the team once again in a 3-0 win at the top of the ladder, but the rest of the evening did not go quite as smoothly. As the competition progressed, it proved to be a thriller, with four matches lasting five games and three taking more than 40 minutes to complete. Despite their best efforts, the close matchup ended in a tight 5-4 loss and the Mammoths settled for fourth. Though they were disappointed, Amherst still had an impressive competition and finished in line with their fourth place seed.

Ultimately, according to Blair Englert ’24, Amherst walked away from the competition with mixed feelings. While the team was proud of their performance in their 5-4 quarterfinal win over Bates, “we had a really close match against Williams for third place, which was awesome since we had four girls out injured (who usually play high on the ladder), but still was a tough loss since three of the matches we lost were in five [games]. ” Englert said.

After an up and down NESCAC tournament, Amherst is hoping to turn their form around in their final competition of the year: the CSA National Team Championships. CSAs is the national tournament for collegiate squash teams, and presents a fabulous opportunity for the Mammoths to finish their season on a high note as a team.

Maggie Pearson ’24 echoed her classmate’s sentiments. “As much as the loss [to Williams] stung I think it’s going to motivate us in the next two weeks before nationals. We want to make an impression when we get there, and I think we will.”

Amherst, now 10-6, looks ahead to the CSA National Team Championships, hosted by Harvard and Tufts, on Feb. 25-27.