No. 11 women’s squash entered New Haven, Connecticut last weekend looking to defend its Kurtz Cup title. But the Red, which ended the championship with a 2-1 record, ultimately came in third place of eight teams.
Teams ranked No. 9 through No. 16 come together annually to compete for the Kurtz Cup.
Starting with an early lead, the Red toppled George Washington, winning eight of nine matches in the CSA National Championships quarterfinals, which allowed Cornell to move on to the semifinals.
The victory saw all but two matches end in a 3-0 set victory for each Cornell player. Going into a fourth match, George Washington senior Emma Tyron was able to win out over the Red’s senior Colby Gallagher for the lone Cornell loss.
Cornell freshman Alexis Shatzman battled George Washington junior Vedika Arunachalam, winning the first two, but losing the next two matches of her set. She eventually emerged on top, triumphing in the tie-breaking match to earn a 3-2 victory for the day.
In the semifinals, the Red took on No. 10 Virginia in a rematch of last year’s matchup. Despite an early win by Cornell, Virginia ultimately came out on top in a 6-3 victory over the Red.
But it was no easy win for Virginia, however, with three Cornell players clawing their way into five-set matches. Junior Mimi deLisser attempted to come back in her individual match, winning 13-15 against her UVA opponent in her fourth set. But despite the close match, she lost 3-2.
“We had a lot of close matches, though we didn’t quite finish them off,” said head coach David Palmer. “We had match points in one and were very close in another.”
Seniors Lucy Martin and Madison Miles and sophomore Sivasangari Subramaniam were able to secure three wins in the semifinal round, but Virginia topped the Red, going on to win the Kurtz Cup title in the finals over Dartmouth.
But keeping up their individual winning streaks, Martin, Miles and Subramaniam went 3-0 individually for the weekend, winning all of the matches they competed in.
Playing for third place, Cornell handily downed Brown with a 7-2 victory.
“Everything’s a learning experience, on and off the court,” Palmer said.
On Feb. 20, Subramaniam was unanimously selected to the All-Ivy League squash team. Subramaniam’s selection is the first for the team since 2018 and the 10th overall in the last decade.
This weekend’s wins allowed Subramaniam to improve her season record to 15-1, competing at No. 1 in The Red’s lineup. She has racked up a 24-2 all-time record in two seasons with the program.
Next up for the Red is the CSA Individual Championships on March 6-8 in Philadelphia.