Yellowjacket Women 2009-2010

February 23rd, 2010 Mithun Mukherjee posted in College Squash, General | Comments »

UR Women’s Club Team 2009-10

UR Women’s Club Team 2009-10

CSA WOMEN’S NATIONALS UPDATE
(2/26): Rochester bt. Notre Dame 9-0
(2/27): Wellesley bt Rochester 7-2
Complete results available here.

Close on the heels of the CSA Men’s National Championship is the women’s event being played this weekend once again at Yale University. Rochester’s newly formed women’s squad which was introduced to the community during Meliora weekend in the fall and also on this blog has had a busy debut season. The team, unofficially coached by local players John Walsh and Tracy Ali, is a dedicated & committed group practicing three nights a week.
Last Saturday, the final score was 9-0 in favor of William Smith but the UR women did show great improvement from their first match against the same team in November. On Friday Feb 26, they will be participating in the E Division at the Women’s National Championship at Yale University. GO YELLOWJACKETS!
2009-10 Women’s Squash College Rankings (updated 2/22/2010)

“The majority of the girls on the team hadn’t played squash before coming to Rochester, but we’ve made great progress over the past few months with the help of our coach, John Walsh, and member of the Rochester squash community, Tracy Ali. John has helped us immensely with swing technique, movement, and general knowledge of the game. We’re really looking forward to meeting and competing with new teams at Nationals.” – Amanda Pollock ‘10

“After competing in a challenging match against William Smith Fall Semester, a second match against William Smith on Saturday will be particularly exciting for us. The team will be able to gauge how far we have come since October. Also, we look forward to not only competing at Yale, but also meeting other clubs and watching the top girl’s matches. Since men and women play a slightly different game, it will be interesting to see how the women’s matches are.” – Clarissa Perkins ‘12

ROSTER: Alison Hamlin, Amanda Pollock ‘10 Clare Zweig ‘12, Clarissa Perkins ‘12 Eliza Friedman ‘11, Elizabeth Vidaurre ‘10, Erica Gelb (Grad), Hannah Lee ‘12, Kate Weber Laura Chess ‘12, Lauren Reynolds ‘10, captain Nandini Seshan ‘11, Paola Pinto ‘10 Sarah Hulbert ‘12 Sofia Melgarejo ‘11 Stephanie Herrlinger ‘10, Suzanne McKenzie

SCHEDULE/RESULTS: Oct 31st, vs. Notre Dame @ Cleveland, Win 6-3 (places 2(LR), 3(CZ), 4(EG), 6(AP), 8(CP) & 9(LC)) Nov 14th, vs. William Smith @ home, Loss 9-0 Dec 5th, vs. Hamilton @ Hamilton, Loss 7-0 Dec 5th, vs. Colgate @ Hamilton, Loss 6-1 (place 4(AP)) Dec 5th, vs. Toronto @ Hamilton, Loss 7-0 Feb 5th, vs. Franklin & Marshall @ home, Loss 9-0 Feb 20th, vs. William Smith @ WS, Loss 9-0 2010 E Division Round Robin schedule at the Women’s Nationals: # Rochester vs Notre Dame : 4:30 PM Fri 2/26 @ Yale # Rochester vs Wellesley : 11:30 AM Sat 2/27 @ Yale # Rochester vs Drexel : 2:00 PM Sun 2/28 @ Yale

UR Women’s team member: Lauren Reynolds

UR Women’s team member: Claire Zweig

Rochester women’s squash with Notre Dame at Cleveland

UR Women’s team member: Laura Chess

Team Rochester at Cleveland

UR Women’s team member: Amanda Rosemore (white)

UR Women’s team lined up for introductions at the William Smith match on Feb 20 2010

Yellowjacket squashers Aly, Laura, Sofia, Suzanne, Kate after the match against William Smith on Feb 20 2010

Yellowjacket Men at the 2010 CSA Nationals

February 22nd, 2010 Mithun Mukherjee posted in College Squash, General | Comments »

The men’s college squash season culminated in the 2010 Men’s CSA Nationals at Yale University in New Haven, CT this past weekend. And as a member of the almost 50 person strong fan club that went down to watch the weekend action aboard the first official Yellowjacket squash fan bus, I can say it was a special experience.

The University of Rochester Men’s team beat Cornell 7-2 in the first round of the Division 1 Potter Cup in a repeat performance of their recent faceoff on the home courts in early February. But the big match was yet to come as they squared off in the semifinals against the most improved team this year, the Yale University Bulldogs, on their home courts. At one point with the score tied at 3-3, the atmosphere was electrifying with fans in the stands, the stairs, the viewing decks, anywhere there was place to stand in the beautiful Brady Squash Center. At that stage, the match could have gone either way but in the end Yale pulled ahead with an gritty 5-4 win to earn a spot in the final against the mighty Trinity Bantams (The Bantam’s eventually won their 12th consecutive title defeating Yale 6-3 in the final on Sunday). The Yellowjacket’s had been just a whisker away from making history as never before have two non-Ivy league schools competed in the finals of the Potter cup in the 80 years of college squash. However, this is the closest the team has been to making it to the CSA finals (they lost 8-1 to Princeton in the semifinals last year) and that in itself is a significant achievement for the Yellowjackets who were ranked 24th in the nation less than five years ago. The team concluded the season with a 7-2 loss to Princeton in the 3/4 place playoff which was played at the Kellner Squash Center on the Trinity college campus on Sunday afternoon.

Rochester alum Piet Van Leer shot some great video of the epic 3-2 win (7-11,11-5,11-8,9-11,11-9) by Rochester’s Will Newnham over Yale’s John Roberts. The win really put Rochester back into the game. (Watch full-screen for hi-def)

For a complete roundup of the weekend’s action, check out CollegeSquashAssociation.Com
See also – Yellowjackets at the 2009 CSA Team Nationals

Photos from 2010 CSA Nationals by Robert McDavid:

(Round 1 – complete set)

(Seminifnals – complete set)

(3/4 Playoff – complete set)

Live Updates from the CSA Men’s Nationals

February 19th, 2010 Mithun Mukherjee posted in College Squash, General | Comments »

Follow the action from the 2010 Men’s Nationals at in New Haven, CT this weekend. Squash Rochester (and others) will be actively tweeting results from this weekend’s action. And if you want to join the conversation, simply add the hashtag #CSASquash to your tweet!

Yellowjacket’s weekend roundup

February 8th, 2010 Mithun Mukherjee posted in College Squash, General | Comments »

Rochester bt. Franklin & Marshall 8-1

Rochester bt. Cornell 7-2

Also, check out this excellent clip profiling the Yellowjackets at the University of Rochester Athletics website. Aren’t you proud to be a Yellowjacket fan?

Photos from the Rochester vs Cornell match on Sunday (© 2010 Paul Schwartz):

COMING UP – Yellowjackets’ Three Match Homestand

February 3rd, 2010 Mithun Mukherjee posted in College Squash, General | Comments »

BRING IT! Yellowjacket co-captains H.Ahmed and J.Bristow

BRING IT! Yellowjacket co-captains H.Ahmed and J.Bristow

ROCHESTER YELLOWJACKETS (#3) vs. FRANKLIN & MARSHALL DIPLOMATS (#12)
When: 6:00 pm Friday February 5th 2010
Coach’s Corner: “F&M return to the Lyman Squash Courts at the University of Rochester. F&M have been a solid team for many years, and with the addition of former former PSA World No.1 John White as coach, look to rise up and challenge the best teams in the league.
The addition of Juan Diego Lopez from Colombia and Guillerme de Melo from Brazil (brother of Gabriel already at F&M) strengthen the line-up.
F&M is a work in progress, and while Rochester don’t expect too much trouble, there are some very talented players that could produce surprising victories if Rochester aren’t sharp.”

ROCHESTER YELLOWJACKETS (#3) vs. CORNELL BIG RED (#6)
When: Sunday February 7th, 12:00 pm *BIG MATCH*
Coach’s Corner:“Despite finishing 6th in Nationals last year after losses to Yale & Harvard, Cornell were awarded the most improved team award for their season. Cornell have also never lost to Rochester.
Cornell have an umbilical cord to Ontario and recruit the best players form the province, as well as some strong US players. This year they added Arjun Gupta, who will most likely start mid-to-high order.
A very similar line-up to Rochester in terms of ability down the order, this match is impossible to predict. Rochester suffered a 5-4 loss last season at Cornell, and now look to reverse this result on home soil. This could be a very interesting local rivalry for years to come.”

ROCHESTER YELLOWJACKETS (#3) vs HOBART STATESMEN (#24)
When: Wednesday February 10th, 6:00 pm
Coach’s Corner:“A local derby played mid-week and a repeat of the Liberty League match earlier in the season.
Legendary player and coach Carol Weymuller, Head Coach, brings a sense of discipline and knowledge to the Hobart players.”

A Melting Pot of Squash – The Yellowjackets on Local TV

January 29th, 2010 Mithun Mukherjee posted in College Squash, General, Video | Comments »

Last night on the news, Chuck Wade of 13WHAM News did an excellent piece on the international melting pot of cultures that is the University of Rochester Squash Team. Great to see the Yellowjackets (and squash) get some local TV coverage.

“You’ve probably heard the sound of a squash game being played before, but chances are you’ve never heard it like the University of Rochester’s Squash team plays it. The Yellowjackets have players hailing from near and far – 11 countries, four different continents, all brought together by one common sport…..
….Rochester’s coach is an interational as well….. Putting together a virtual United Nations of squash talent was his idea when he first came to Rochester. “I wanted to create this very diverse group of athletes, because the experience that they get learning from each other,” Heath told us. “To me, that’s the best thing about meeting people….””

Watch the entire video of the piece on 13WHAM.

Rochester v. Yale – THIS Sunday

January 8th, 2010 Mithun Mukherjee posted in College Squash, Events, General | Comments »

From Coach Heath: “Rochester defeated Yale 5-4 last year at Nationals in what was one of the most nail-biting finishes ever in college squash. Freshman Matt Domenick was up against Junior and season-long No.1 Aaron Fuchs in the deciding match. Matt pulled off an incredible 3-2 victory against his more experienced opponent to send Rochester into the semi-finals. This was the first time Rochester had beaten Yale and their first time they would compete in the semi-finals of the CSA Nationals. This result reversed an enjoyable 5-4 tussle between Yale & Rochester at Yale during the season. Yale rallied from behind to clinch some unlikely victories and the overall match 5-4, though this loss made the reversal all the more sweet for Rochester later in the season. Yale look to have a very strong recruiting year, and while they lose two solid performers from their mid-order in Colin Campbell & Francis Johnson, they look to have improved their overall standard. The result is far from being predictable, though Rochester will have the home court advantage this year.”

2009 CSA Championship Rochester vs. Yale 02/20/2009 Clinching the last and deciding match for University of Rochester in the team’s 5-4 win over Yale, Freshman Matt Domenick breaks a string at match ball, then returns to the court to win the gruelling 5 game match against his Yale opponent, Aaron Fuchs. The exuberant team swarms him to soak in the historic win that nets a minimum top four team finish.

They face off again this Sunday after almost a year. The Bulldogs will be looking for sweet revenge but the Yellowjackets have the home court advantage. So come give it to them!
When: Sunday, January 10, 2010, 1:00pm-4:00pm
Where: Lyman Squash Courts, University of Rochester
RSVP on Facebook

Rochester Alum John Illig on Rochester vs Princeton

December 15th, 2009 Mithun Mukherjee posted in College Squash, Events, General | Comments »

Middlebury squash coach and Rochester alum John Illig chronicles an excellent play by play of the day’s events in this excellent piece for the CSA website:

“…The cheering for the victory was loud, but brief. Princeton players had fought hard and were disappointed, but again they were all-class. And Rochester, in victory, was all-class: VERY respectful. All these players know each other. They’re friends. And that’s how you play the game, even when the nation’s 2-3 spot is at stake….”

Read the entire article at the CSA Website.

Photos by Paul Schwartz:

Andres lines up a backhand			Co-Captain, Jim Bristow (R) sends Santiago Imberston (P) to the back corner on his way to a win at the #3 position
Rochester Coach Martin Heath congratulates Andres Duany after his big win over David Pena

The Yellowjackets pull it off

December 13th, 2009 Mithun Mukherjee posted in College Squash, Events, General | Comments »

In the biggest home match of the season, the #3 ranked Yellowjackets snatched the #2 spot from the visiting Princeton Tigers in an exciting 5-4 victory.

Yes, Princeton was missing regulars Shannon, Callis and Tanner in their lineup today but Rochester put up an exceptional performance in a match that could easily have gone to 6-3.
In one of the first matches of the day at #6, Rochester freshman Juan Pablo Gaviria, giving it his everything at one game down to Princeton’s Clay Blackiston had an unfortunate head collision with the right side wall and was out cold for a few seconds resulting in him having to retire…that was a solid blow that the lad took to the head!

Co-captain Jim Bristow (R), playing Santiago Imberton (P) at #3 was a tight match with Bristow winning in four. Imberton consistently pushed Bristow to the front with some excellent cross nicks but eventually Bristow began to read through them and control the game more.

Convincing 3-0 wins for Rochester at #7 and #9 by Will Newnham (over Nikhil Seth) and Joe Chapman (over Thorman) respectively.
Another freshman, Oscar Lopez-Hidalgo probably delivered what was the most crucial win for Rochester at #8 after being 1-0 down to Princeton’s Steve Harrington. The match score was 3-2 in Rochester’s favor at that stage.

(More pictures to follow)
Rochester’s co-captain at #2, Hameed Ahmed was cruising with a 2-1 game lead and 7-1 up in the fourth game against Princeton’s Letourneau, when the inexplicable happened. All credit to Letourneau who dug and dug and dug and pulled off a miracle comeback of the day to win in five and equalize the match score for Princeton. The last time they met during Ahmed’s freshman year Letourneau won 3-1 so maybe that was still what was playing in Ahmed’s head. Funny how this game works!

Newnham (R) shot back strongly over Seth (P). Rochester 4, Princeton 3.

The two matches remaining both featured Rochester freshmen – Harrity(P) vs Fischer(R) at #1 and Pena(P) vs Duany(R) at #4.
In a tightly contested match, the tall Peruvian Duany retrieved EVERYTHING Pena was giving him and in the end prevailed to win Rochester that all important fifth match!
Meanwhile Fischer put on a strong showing against Harrity on the next court but succumbed in the end. At any rate, the overall outcome had already been decided – a historic win for the newly crowned #2 team in the nation!!!

Andres Duany wins the final point for Rochester:

More match reports:
Squashtalk – Rochester beats Princeton with superior depth
Rochester Athletics – #3 Rochester Edges #2 Princeton in Squash
Princeton Athletics – Shorthanded Squash Falls To No. 3 Rochester In 5-4 Thriller
Final scores:
1. Todd Harrity (P) def. Ben Fischer (R), 11-7, 11-8, 11-6
2. David Letourneau (P) def. Hameed Ahmed (R), 11-13, 9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-8
3. Jim Bristow (R) def. Santiago Imberston (P), 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7
4. Andres Duany (R) def. David Pena (P), 14-12, 11-7, 8-11, 11-5
5. Peter Sopher (P) def. Matt Domenick (R), 11-6, 11-8, 11-5
6. Clay Blackiston (P) def. Juan Pablo Gaviria (R), 11-4, 6-3, ret.
7. Will Newnham (R) def. Nikhil Seth (P), 11-9, 11-1, 11-6
8. Oscar Lopez-Hidalgo (R) def. Steve Harrington (P), 11-13, 11-8, 11-7, 11-5
9. Joseph Chapman (R) def. James Thorman (P), 11-7, 11-5, 11-9

Rochester vs Princeton – THIS SUNDAY!

December 8th, 2009 Mithun Mukherjee posted in College Squash, Events | Comments »

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! You can’t miss one of the biggest (and first) home game of the season!
Sunday December 13th at 1:00pm at the Lyman Squash Courts, Goergen Athletic Center, University of Rochester

From Coach Martin Heath: This is the first time Princeton has ever competed at the University of Rochester. Ranked No.2 behind Trinity College, Princeton has been painfully close to beating Trinity the past 5 years. On paper they had the best team last year, and despite hosting Nationals at Princeton, they again fell agonizingly short. This year they are still strong, with Todd Harrity, the US wunderkind coming in near the top of the order. He will replace the “three amigos” of Mauricio Sanchez, Kimlee Wong & Hisham El Halaby who all graduated in 2009. Rochester played Princeton at Princeton twice last year, losing 9-0 & 8-1, though certainly the matches were closer than the scoreline suggested. This year it will be a much closer affair on paper, with the home advantage going to Rochester. This match will most likely determine No.2 seeding in Nationals.

The latest from the Yellowjackets

November 11th, 2009 Mithun Mukherjee posted in College Squash, General | Comments »

A few exciting squash developments on the University of Rochester campus –

UR Women’s Club Team 2009-10

UR Women’s Club Team 2009-10

WOMEN’S CLUB TEAM –
The Meliora exhibition unveiled the brand new women’s squash club team at the University with almost 19 college students trying out for the team, this has been a overwhelming success that is gaining momentum.
On Halloween weekend, the women’s team travelled to Cleveland and beat Notre Dame 6-3 in their first ever competitive face-off!
THIS SATURDAY 11/4 at 2:00pm, the girls play their first home game against neighbors William Smith from Geneva at the Peter Lyman Squash Courts at UR – so come cheer them on! And on Dec 4, they travel again to Wesleyan for a competitive round robin.

THE YELLOWJACKETS EMBRACE SOCIAL MEDIA –
Follow the men’s varsity team on Twitter (@RochesterSquash) for up-to-the-minute updates from the team when they’re on the road.
Or become a fan of University of Rochester Squash and University of Rochester Women’s Club Squash on Facebook

Finally, we’ve recently discovered that varsity men’s team co-captain Hameed Ahmed is a closet blogger (is there such a thing?) of sorts, read his excellent insider insights on the Yellowjacket’s season at his blog “Balls Inside Walls” at the CampusTimes website. Ahmed, who interned this past summer for the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation, writes with journalistic flair.

in his latest blog post, he reports on the recently concluded and seldom covered by the press, Price-Bullington Invitational, a long running (39 years and counting) pre-season invitation only competition for elite college players in Virginia. Hameed notes the work to be done by the team before they face off against #2 Princeton in what promises to be the first and biggest home game of the season:

“This was an individual tournament, but as we‘re playing Princeton already in five weeks we all were particularly looking forward to challenging the three Princeton players at the tournament. Although every one of us came extremely close to beating them, they were still a step ahead — especially on big points…..It is obviously good to know that we’re right up there with Princeton, but the fact that they were able to win all of the “big points” this weekend shows us that we still need to work on our squash before the match in December. If we can turn around those points and win the matches, we definitely have a shot at beating them. “
Read the entire report from Hameed’s blog “Balls Inside Walls”.
And mark your calendars – SUNDAY DEC 13th 1:00 pm ROCHESTER VS PRINCETON AT THE PETER LYMAN SQUASH COURTS AT UR!

UR Yellowjackets Meliora Exhibition 2009

September 22nd, 2009 Mithun Mukherjee posted in College Squash, Events | Comments »

Mark your calendars! Saturday October 10th at 7:00pm!
Great opportunity to get some lessons from team members before the event begins – 30 minute lessons at $30 each, 15 slots available. All proceeds go to team fund. Contact Coach Heath (Ph: 585-273-5184) to reserve a slot.
From Coach Heath:
“Should be a great evening. The new guys are very good, and hopefully it will give the local community a chance to practice their cheering before we host Princeton, Yale & Cornell this season! Go Eric Hernady!”

From CollegeSquashAssociation.Com: 2009 – 2010 Rochester Men’s Season Preview
“…Rochester’s monumental rise in the College Squash Association’s rankings continued last season. Since becoming coach at the beginning of the 2005-2006 season, Martin Heath has guided the team from 25th (2006), to 16th (2007), 10th (2008), and 3rd (2009) place finishes. Not surprisingly, during that period, the Yellowjackets earned the Barnaby Award, which is given to the most improved team each season, twice.

Last season’s thrilling 5-4 victory over Yale at the National Team Championships earned Rochester its 3rd place finish. The team’s goal is to continue last season’s momentum in 2009-2010. The team has strengthened its schedule, and it will host matches with Cornell, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. As with any team near the top of the rankings, Rochester is gunning to win the team championships. With Fred Reid and Adam Perkiomaki not playing this season, the Yellowjackets hope that their new recruits will fill the void.

The Yellowjackets bring an international flavor to Rochester. This year’s additions, Andres Duany (Peru), Juan Pablo Gaviria (Columbia), and Oscar Lopez Hidalgo (Mexico) bring the total countries represented on the team to thirteen: British Virgin Islands, Canada, Colombia, El Salvador, England, Finland, Guyana, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United States. During January, the team will train in the British Virgin Islands….”
Read the entire preview at the CSA website.