Both the men's and women's squash teams competed at their respective national tournaments over the past two weekends, battling teams ranked close to Bowdoin in last-leg efforts to end the season on a good note. The women entered their national tournament, the Kurtz cup, held this year at Harvard, with a record of 14-7. The men, competing in the Summers Cup at Princeton, entered the tournament with a record of 10-12.
The women's first-round match was against Middlebury, marking the third match against them this season. The top of Bowdoin's ladder came through, with the top six players winning, and five of the six dominating by scores of 3-0. The victory was a relief for the women, who had narrowly escaped their previous meeting with Middlebury with a score of 5-4.
The next challenge for the Bowdoin women came the following day against Brown, who had defeated the Bears by a score of 8-1 in their last meeting. In this match, Brown came out on top once again, winning by the same margin. Bowdoin's only victory came at the No. 2 slot, from sophomore Lauren Gesswein.
On Sunday, the Bears faced another formidable opponent at Mount Holyoke. No. 4 Alex Franceschi '09 and No. 6 Lizzy Warner '12 were able to capture wins, but Mount Holyoke took the rest of the matches, winning 7-2. As a result, the women's team finished its season ranked 12th in the nation.
"The weekend was a great way to end a really amazing year," said Franceschi, a co-captain. "It was tough to lose to Brown and Mount Holyoke, but I think everyone played really well and the matches were closer than score showed."
"This group was the tightest-knit team I have experienced in my four years playing for Bowdoin," added senior co-captain Biz Gillespie. "And in that respect, I think we finished great."
The men, coming off of a four-match winning streak, hoped to capture the Summers Cup title at Princeton.
They began the tournament on Friday with a match against George Washington University. The heavily favored Polar Bears were able to secure victory by a score of 7-2, with wins coming from Nos. 2-8 on the ladder.
Saturday's opponent in the semifinals of the Summers Cup was Tufts, which the Polar Bears had defeated just two weeks earlier by a score of 7-2. In this meeting, though, the Jumbos showed a lot of heart and battled to take four matches from Bowdoin. The Bears were able to respond to secure the victory, however, taking matches at No 1. by Andy Bernard '11, No. 2 by David Funk '10, No. 3 by Peter Cipriano '10, No. 5 by Arun Makhija '10, and No. 6 by Robbie Lynn '09.
The victory sent Bowdoin to the Summers Cup final in a battle against Middlebury for 17th spot in the national rankings. The Polar Bears had won both of their previous matches against Middlebury this season with a score of 5-4.
This match was just as close as the first two, but with less favorable results; the Polar Bears battled but were unable to triumph, losing 5-4. Although senior co-captain Robbie Lynn's last Bowdoin match couldn't be a team victory, he dominated in his No. 6 spot, allowing his opponent only one point in the entire match.
"Although this season didn't ultimately turn out how we had planned, it was valuable in other respects than the tallies in the win column," said sophomore Rahul Madan Mohan. "Our freshmen gained valuable experience, and the core of our team finished the season with a lot of motivation for next year."
"As for next year, the future is bright," added co-captain Funk, "We are only graduating one person. Senior leadership will dictate where the team goes next year and I have high hopes and am optimistic that we will do much better."
Funk, Elena Laird '11, Gesswein, Franceschi, and Gillespie will all compete in the Individual Nationals tournament at Williams College this weekend.