CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 5 Virginia women’s squash team fell 7-2 to No. 4 Stanford in the final of the Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference Championship on Sunday (Feb. 15) at the McArthur Squash Center.
The Cavaliers (11-4) advanced out of Pool A after sweeping both Dickinson and Drexel, but fell to the Cardinal in the Gaynor Cup final for the third straight year.
Freshman Charlotte Pastel and junior Clare Minnis earned the points for the Cavaliers, Pastel winning in three at the top of the ladder and Minnis battling to a 3-2 victory at position four.
FROM HEAD COACH MARK ALLEN
The women were very close today, and the final 7–2 scoreline doesn’t reflect just how tight the match was overall. Just under an hour in, it was finely balanced: 1–1 in finished matches, and almost dead even across the courts still in play. It was only when they closed three of the next four matches that the contest began to slip away from us.
A huge congratulations to co-captain Clare Minnis, who produced a massive five-game win lasting 61 minutes. Most players who lose a third game 19–17 to go down 2–1 would struggle to find the determination and resolve to come back from that position. Clare, however, is made of stern stuff - and got the reward that all the hard training she puts in deserves. She fought back superbly to take the match in what must be one of the longest women’s matches played this season—if not the longest. A remarkable effort.
Charlotte was just as impressive, though in a very different way—completely dominating her opponent from start to finish and dropping just nine points in the entire match. The Stanford #1, Amelie Hayworth's a very good player, but Charlotte was unstoppable today, playing the best attacking squash I've ever seen her play today.
I've singled these two out because they got the wins, but several others were right there as well. Lina played very well and was agonizingly close, narrowly failing to convert three match balls, and Anniston also played close to the best of her ability, and was right in it, going down in a long five-game battle.
The entire team can feel good about the performance. And just like last season, with the way the seeding is shaping up for Nationals, it’s very possible we’ll see Stanford again in three weeks’ time—with another opportunity to turn the result in our favor.