Virginia men's and women's squash teams traveled to SquashSmarts in Philadelphia, Pa. on Saturday with hopes of coming out victorious against Trinity for the first time in program history — but both teams once again stumbled against the Bantams. In their final regular season matchup of the year, the No. 4 Cavalier men (13-4, 0-0, MASC) fell 7–2 against the No. 1 Bantams (15-0, 0-0, NESCAC). On the women's side, No. 6 Virginia (11-5, 0-0, MASC) lost a back-and-forth battle against the No. 5 Bantams (13-4, 0-0, NESCAC) with a final score of 5-4.
Men's game
The Virginia men were coming off of a strong MASC Championship success last weekend. However, that momentum was not enough to halt Trinity in its tracks — who just won its 19th consecutive NESCAC Championship.
From the beginning of the match, the Cavaliers had a hard time controlling the Bantams. It was not an easy victory for Trinity, though — four of the nine games were pushed to five sets, showcasing the resilience of the Virginia squad. Only freshman Oscar Okonkwo and sophomore Nathan Rosenzweig got points on the board for the Cavaliers at the five and eight positions.
In the first position, sophomore Juan Jose Torres Lara's defeat broke his season's undefeated streak during a competitive match against Trinity senior Joachim Chuah. Torres Lara gave up 14 points between the first two sets but wasn't able to hold it in the final three, bringing his final record to 12–1 for the regular season.
The final score was 7–2 in favor of the Bantams, bringing Virginia's official regular season record to 13–4. While a tough loss, the Cavaliers put up a fight and seem ready to proceed into the offseason with the same energy they have been showing since October.
Women's game
After a hard loss to No. 4 Stanford in the MASC finals last weekend, the Virginia women hoped to end the regular season on a high note. And while the Cavaliers did not win, the four points that they put up against Trinity was the most in series history.
Virginia picked up an early 1–0 lead after freshman Charlotte Pastel swept in the first position, bringing her to 11–3 in the first position for the season. The score adjusted in a back-and-forth manner as the Bantams won in the second position, but gave up points in the third, fourth and eighth.
The real nail-biter of the faceoff came in the fourth position, where the Cavaliers’ junior Clare Minnis defeated the Bantams’ junior Varvara Esina in five oscillating sets. Minnis won the final set 15–13 to secure her victory and set her season record at 11–4 in the third and fourth positions.
Virginia fought hard in all positions against Trinity, however ultimately fell in a close loss to the Bantams who, like their male counterparts, had also just earned their 19th consecutive NESCAC Championship.
Both the Cavalier men and women put up hard, technical fights this weekend. However, the question now remains if that will be enough to take home hardware in the postseason. The teams have been consistently successful throughout the season, although falling short against some of the top teams could be problematic as they progress into March.
While this was not the regular season finale that Virginia hoped for, the team can now focus on the final competition of the season — the CSA Team Championships. The Cavaliers will compete in Philadelphia, Pa. March 5 through March 8, where the men will compete for the Potter Cup and the women will play for the Howe Cup to finish off their seasons.
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