Hartford, Conn. - The Trinity College Bantams came roaring back from a 2-0 deficit to win the remaining seven points and post a 7-2 victory over the Princeton University Tigers in the semifinal round of the College Squash Association (CSA) National Team Championship (Howe Cup) Semifinals this afternoon at George A. Kellner Squash Center. No. 3-seeded Trinity reaches the Howe Cup Finals for the 10th time and the second year in a row and will face top-seeded Harvard in the finals tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. The Bantams, which had dropped a 5-4 decision to Princeton in January, improve to 17-2. No. 2-seeded Princeton falls to 14-2 and will play Stanford for third place tomorrow at 11 a.m. The match was preceded by the CSA Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Kellner Center. Trinity Head Coach Wendy Bartlett and two-time Bantam National Champion Amina Helal were among the inductees.
Trinity fell behind early, 2-0, after a 3-0 win by Tiger senior Isabel Hirshberg (Philadelphia, Pa.) at the botton of the ladder and hard-fought, 3-2 victory by sophomore Emme Leonard (Harrison, N.Y.) over Trinity senior co-captain Jenny Haley (Newport, Wales). Juniors Salma Alam El Din (Cairo, Egypt) and Lakeesha Rarere (Hastings, New Zeland) tied the score with back-to-back Bantam wins. Alam El Din outlasted Tiger freshman Elle Ruggiero (Malvern, Pa.), 3-2, winning the fifth game, 11-8, after losing games three and four. Rarere dominated the No. 8 match with a 3-0 win to knot it up at 2-all.
The momentum stayed with the Bantams the rest of the way, as sophomores Akanksha Salunkhe (Vasco de Gama, India) and Min Jie Teh (Klang, Malaysia) both blanked their opponents to make it, 4-2, and first-year Nadiia Usenko (Kiev, Ukraine) clinched the team win with an 11-8, 12-10, 11-2, victory over Tiger rookie Andrea Toth (Vancouver, British Columbia). Bantam junior Vanessa Raj (Penang, Malaysia) and rookie Sahari Lopez (Zapopan, Mexico) completed the 7-0 run with 3-0 wins at No. 4 and No.1, respectively.
MATCH RESULTS
1. TC- Sahari Lopez d. Hiu Lam Lui, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9
2. TC- Min Jie Teh d. Raheem El Torky, 11-4, 11-6, 11-6
3. TC- Salma Alam El Din d. Elle Ruggiero, 16-14, 13-11, 9-11, 7-11, 11-8
4. TC- Vanessa Raj d. M. Grace Doyle, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6
5. TC- Akanksha Salunkhe d. Samantha Chai, 11-3, 11-5, 11-3.
6. P- Emme Leonard d. Jenny Haley, 11-13, 11-1, 8-11, 13-11, 11-9
7. TC- Nadiia Usenko d. Andrea Toth, 11-8, 12-10, 11-2
8. TC- Lakeesha Rarere d. Morgan Steelman, 11-5, 11-9, 11-8
9. P- I. Hirshberg d. Ashita Bhengra, 11-9, 11-8, 11-8
Trinity (Conn.) 7, Princeton 2
