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Women's Squash Has Five Players Alive at CSA Individuals |
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AMHERST, Mass. - Four of women squash's five entrants are still alive in the Ramsay Division of the CSA Individual Championships, which features the top-32 players in the country, after Friday's play. The Quakers put three players - Rachael Goh, Nabilla Ariffin and Pia Trikha - into the Round of 16, but each would fall in that afternoon session. Yarden Odinak is also alive after a consolation win following an opening round loss. In Holleran Division action, Stephanie Vogel advanced the Round of 16 with a win this afternoon. Ninth-seeded Goh got off to a quick start when she dispatched Princeton's No. 25 Alexandra Sawin. Penn's junior used two hard-fought games, 11-9 and 11-8, to take the quick 2-0 lead and then cruised to her easiest game of the match, winning 11-5. In the Round of 16, Goh was paired up against another Princeton player, No. 8 Elizabeth Eyre. Eyre jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead with 11-8 and 11-5 wins in the first two games, but Goh would not go away silently. She stormed back, winning the next two games, 11-8 and 11-4, tying the match at two-all. In that decisive game, Eyre came away with the 11-9 victory. Ariffin, seeded 12th, also opened up her tournament with a three-game win. She allowed just seven points in the first two games against No. 25 Nathasha Kingshott (Harvard) to put herself on the brink of advancing. She would play her tightest game of the match in that third game, but prevailed, 11-9, to move into the Round of 16. In the Round of 16, she found herself paired against a familiar rival in No. 5 Julie Cerullo (Princeton). In the regular season, Cerullo defeated Ariffin in straight games and she would do the same in this matchup today, winning 11-3, 11-8, 11-6. Trikha, seeded 18th, completely turned the tables on No. 19 Ashley Tidman from their Howe Cup result last weekend. At the Howe Cup, Penn's co-captain fell in three games to Tidman. On Friday, Trikha won in the minimal three games. She won a pair of 11-8 games to go up 2-0 and clinched the win with an 11-7 win in the third. In the Round of 16, undisputed No. 1 Amanda Sohby awaited her. Sohby has not lost since she began competing for Harvard in January and today would be no exception as she just forced her will on Trikha as she has done all season long, winning in straight games. With Goh, Arrifin and Trikha all losing in the Round of 16 and being on the same side of the bracket, this has created a log jam of Quakers in the second round consolation bracket. Goh will play Trikha tomorrow at 1:30 with the winner moving on and the loser eliminated. Ariffin will play No. 4 Catalina Pelaez (Trinity) who was upset in the Round of 16. Pelaez beat Ariffin in three tight games at the Howe Cup last weekend. The winner of that 1:30 match will play the winner of Trikha and Goh in the next round. Odinak, seeded 22nd, fell in straight games to No. 11 and returning All-American Pamela Chua from Stanford. However, she rebounded with a three-game win of her own in the consolation round, defeating No. 27 Katherine Giovinazzi (Princeton). She allowed just nine points in the first and third games to go along with an 11-8 win in the second. She will face another Princeton player tomorrow in No. 14 Nicole Bunyan. Bunyan played No. 8 way back in December against Penn, but moved all the up to the second slot on the Princeton ladder at the Howe Cup. Courtney Jones had a tough path to navigate in her first Ramsay Division appearance. The Quakers' sophomore was paired up with No. 4 Catalina Peleaz in the first round. In the match, Jones would get 10 points total, but fall in straight games. In her consolation, she was up against No. 14 Nicole Bunyan (Princeton), who was upset in the first round. Jones played tight second and third games, but was on the wrong side of 11-9 and 11-7 scores and was eliminated from the draw. In the Holleran Division, Vogel, seeded fourth, received a first round bye into the Round of 32. In the Round of 32, she cruised past Chandler Lusardi of Amherst, allowing just 11 points total, including just five in the first two games to move into the Round of 16. In her Saturday morning match, Vogel will play Abigail Jenkins of Middlebury. Jenkins played No. 2 at the team championships for Middlebury, the 11th-ranked team in the country. That matchup will be played at 11:15 on Saturday morning. Full Results Ramsay Division #9 Rachael Goh (1-1) #12 Nabilla Ariffin (1-1) #18 Pia Trikha (1-1) #22 Yarden Odinak (1-1) #29 Courtney Jones (0-2) Holleran Division #4 Stephanie Vogel (1-0) |
Courtesy: University of Pennsylvania
