Women’s squash wins Kurtz Cup
Becky Lau ’13 dropped just one game in her victory over Brown University’s Sarah Crosky to help the Big Green take the 2010 Kurtz Cup.
By Vince Marriott, The Dartmouth Staff
Published on Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Dartmouth women’s squash team finished its season on a high note over the weekend, cruising through the B Group bracket at the CSA National Championships to take home the Kurtz Cup. The Big Green defeated Colby College, Mt. Holyoke University and Brown University to win the title.
The B Division bracket consists of the No. 9-16 ranked teams in the country, while the top eight squads compete in the Howe Cup tournament. Dartmouth was the top seed in the second grouping, narrowly missing out on a berth in the A Division.
“I think it was a really good weekend,” co-captain Elizabeth Weintraub ’10 said. “It was nice to win the Kurtz Cup, but it would have been better if we were in the top eight.”
The Big Green closed out the tournament with a 7-2 victory over the Bears (7-9, 0-7 Ivy). The win ensured that Dartmouth would finish with the No. 9 national ranking.
The match was not as one-sided as the score indicates, however. Only two members of the Big Green — Corey Schafer ’13 and Sarah Loucks ’13 — won their matches in the minimum three games.
“[Brown University] was definitely the toughest team in our division,” co-captain Libbey Brown ’10 said.
Dartmouth opened the tournament with an easy 9-0 win over Colby (14-12). The Big Green did not lose a single game in the rout, going a combined 27-0 in its matches.
“I think that our play this weekend showed that we were too talented for the B Division,” head coach Hansi Wiens said.
The second round also failed to provide a challenge for the Dartmouth women, as they handily defeated the Mt. Holyoke Lyons (14-9), 9-0.
Loucks and Schafer both saw their matches go to five games, but both finished in dominating fashion, winning their final games 11-0 and 11-3, respectively.
“I think the season this year was very successful,” Brown said. “We worked hard and had fun, and that’s all you can ask for.”
Even though team play is over for both the men’s and women’s teams, top players will continue on to the CSA Individual Championships held this weekend at Yale University.
Chris Hanson ’13, Nick Sisodia ’12, Valeria Wiens ’13, Schafer and Brown will represent the Big Green at the competition, according to coach Wiens. The top 10 finishers at the tournament will earn All-American honors.
The Individual Championships will be held from March 5-7 in New Haven, Conn.