by Stephen Elliott
Staff Writer
The Sewanee Club Squash team traveled to Harvard University to play in the College Squash Association’s National Team Championships over Valentine’s Day Weekend. Competing in the H Division against Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, and the University of Minnesota, Sewanee dropped all three matches in the round robin tournament.
The Tigers, led by captain Ellie Renner (C’14), lost to the Fighting Irish, eventual champion of the bracket, 9-0, to Minnesota 5-4, and to Vanderbilt 6-3. Sewanee was one of 4 teams out of 61 at the national tournament without a coach. Renner said, “In order to be more competitive we would need another court to have the ability to host more matches at Sewanee and conduct team practices.
In order to qualify for the national tournament, dominated by Northeastern schools and won by Harvard, Sewanee competed in regional tournaments in Atlanta and St. Louis over the last month. The team played in the Seventh Annual Jesters Southeastern College Team Atlanta Invitational over Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend. After defeating the UNC Tar Heels, the Duke Blue Devils, and Emory University, Sewanee lost to Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and eventual champion College of Charleston.
Sewanee also competed in a tournament two weekends later in St. Louis, hosted by Washington University in St. Louis against Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and the University of Illinois. Sewanee then hosted its first match against Vanderbilt at the Fowler Center squash court. This match was just one in the growing rivalry between the two programs, one that is sure to shape the future of the Sewanee club squash program.
The team features only two graduating seniors, and captain Ellie Renner (C’14) said, “this was a building year and the team will definitely be stronger in the future.”