PRINCETON, N.J. – The No. 18 Franklin & Marshall women's squash team downed No 19 St. Lawrence by a 6-3 score on Saturday morning at the Collegiate Squash Association (CSA) Team Championships to advance into the Walker Cup (C Division) Finals. The Diplomats improved to 9-12 on the year, while the Saints fell to 4-10.
The win propels F&M to its first Walker Cup final since 2011, when the Diplomats captured the title. F&M will face off against No. 17 Amherst tomorrow at 10:30 a.m., who took down No. 20 Bowdoin earlier in the day with a 5-4 tally.
Against St. Lawrence, F&M dropped three of the first four spots with the lone win at the top of the lineup coming from Roxanna Mead at No. 2 in a back-and-forth battle. Mead went ahead 2-1 (11-9, 8-11, 11-7) before the Saints' Brigitte Touisnant fought back in the fourth with a 12-10 score. However, Mead managed to close out the five-game win by edging out her opponent with a 12-10 score in the final stanza.
The Diplomats dominated from there on out, capturing wins from No.'s 5-9, which included four sweeps from Kate O'Brien at No. 5, Jazmin Matos at No. 6, Dana Rapisarda at No. 8 and Krista Lancione at No. 9. Liz Gatling came out on top in a grueling matchup at No. 7. Taking the opening two games by identical 12-10 scores, Gatling fell in the third at 11-7 but closed out the matchup with a hard-fought 14-12 victory in the final frame.
F&M will look for redemption against Amherst tomorrow, who captured a 6-3 win against the Diplomats back on Jan. 19. The all-time series belongs to Amherst at 18-8 that includes wins in eight straight. F&M's last win in the series occurred back in 2000.
Results will be updated throughout the day tomorrow and can be found here.
#18 Franklin & Marshall 6, #19 St. Lawrence 3
1. Jill Baker (STLWSQ) def. Emily Caldwell (F&MW) 5-11, 11-2, 11-3, 11-6
2. Roxanna Mead (F&MW) def. Brigitte Tousignant (STLWSQ) 11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 10-12, 12-10
3. Emily Terry (STLWSQ) def. Cris Margaret Frias (F&MW) 11-7, 11-4, 11-5
4. Zoe Kagan (STLWSQ) def. Katherine Perry (F&MW) 11-3, 12-10, 11-9
5. Kate O'Brien (F&MW) def. Brittany Coxe (STLWSQ) 11-4, 11-4, 11-2
6. Jazmin Matos (F&MW) def. Sarah Neilson (STLWSQ) 11-5, 11-9, 11-3
7. Elizabeth Gatling (F&MW) def. Valeria Quan Miranda (STLWSQ) 12-10, 12-10, 7-11, 14-12
8. Dana Rapisarda (F&MW) def. Carolyn Fisher (STLWSQ) 11-5, 11-7, 11-7
9. Krista Lancione (F&MW) def. C. Parker Benedict (STLWSQ) 11-3, 11-8, 13-11
Exh. Paige Buchanan (STLWSQ) def. Henrietta Goelet (F&MW) 10-12, 11-4, 13-11, 8-11, 11-4
