The Lady Polar Bears closed out their regular season this past Saturday with a loss to the No. 16 nationally-ranked Colby Mules. The No. 23 nationally-ranked Bowdoin women fell 7-2 in the matchup ending their season 6-11.
Juniors Lauren Gesswein (No. 1), and Katie Boyce (No. 8) scored the two points for Bowdoin, defeating their respective opponents 3-1 and 3-0.
"This was a really rough way to end the season," said first year Louisa Cannell, "but looking back, we've come a long way, and I think we're poised to do really well at nationals in a couple weeks and beyond."
The team will next play at Yale University on February 26 at the Team National Tournament.
"I'm really excited for Nationals," said first year Elizabeth Schetman, "even though we're seeded seventh we put up such a fight against No.1 seed Wesleyan, only losing 5-4 two weeks ago, and I think that that speaks volumes about us as a team and bodes well for us."
Head Coach Tomas Fortson's views mirrored those of the players.
"We are a team that is bonding well and working hard," he said. "We are preparing well for Nationals and we should see our best play then."
No. 15-ranked Bowdoin closed its season with a blowout victory against Colby on February 9. The men defeated the White Mules 8-1, closing their season 12-9. Losing in only the No. 1 spot, the Polar Bears dominated the No. 22-ranked Mules at their last match of the year at the Lubin Squash Center.
The men will compete this weekend at Men's Team Nationals at Yale. The Polar Bears are in the Hoehn Cup "B" Division and will begin the tournament at 12:30 p.m. against the No.10-seeded Williams Ephs.
The winner of that match will move on to play the winner of the Brown-Bates match at noon. The Polar Bears fell to the Ephs in a hard 8-1 decision on January 10.
Fortson was optimistic going into the final tournament.
"Men's Nationals should be a great experience. The level of our team is on par with the seven very good teams we'll be facing in our 'B' Division, with each team a potential champion," he said. "A great challenge facing Williams first, a team we have never beaten. But we do have excellent team spirit and I hope that will be the difference."