LANCASTER, Pa. — The 28th-ranked Haverford College women's squash team (1–2) earned its first victory in two years over Chatham with a 5–4 win over the No. 29 Cougars (0–4), before falling to No. 8 Drexel (2–0) by a 9–0 score on Saturday afternoon at Lancaster Country Day School. The doubleheader marked day two of Pennsylvania State Championships round-robin action.
#28 Haverford 5, #29 Chatham 4
Haverford opened the match with a quick 2–0 lead after winning by default in the eighth and ninth flights.
Chatham responded by sweeping the top half of the ladder to take a 4–2 advantage. In a five-game thriller at the top flight, Clara Braga edged Haverford's Joelle Phuah 11–6, 5–11, 11–6, 9–11, 11–3 in what became the longest match of the day. The Cougars evened the match at 2–2 when Vasundhra Vasanthan defeated Zoe Liu 11–2, 11–2, 11–3 in the second flight.
Chatham extended its lead with wins in flights three and four, as Sofia Pinto Combita topped Julia Carrasco 11–7, 11–7, 11–8, and TaNiya Nored earned a competitive 11–8, 11–9, 11–8 victory over Avallina Orfield.
The Fords then sealed up a momentous 5-4 victory with sweeps in the seventh and eighth flights, with Madeline Bulbulia earning a 11-0, 11-0, 11-0, sweep over Sara Secco and Sarah Kotapka pushing past Malika Cleckley 11-1, 11-2, 11-5.
#8 Drexel 9, #28 Haverford 0
Moa Bonnemark opened the match up with an 11–1, 11–2, 11–1 win over Joelle Phuah in the top flight, followed by Emma Bartley's 11–2, 11–1, 11–4 result against Liu. The Dragons continued their run with straight-game wins in flights three and four, as Emilia Falconi and Nóra Juhász defeated Julia Carrasco (11-1, 11-2, 11-5) and Avallina Orfield (11-1, 11-1, 11-1), respectively.
Drexel's momentum continued through the middle and lower flights. Awande Malinga claimed the fifth flight 11–0, 11–1, 11–3 over Ofri Geva, while Lijana Sultana earned an 11–3, 11–0, 11–3 win against Amy Saxon.
The bottom three spots on the ladder produced the final wins for the Dragons, as Claudia Adam claimed flight seven with an 11–4, 11–2, 11–2 victory over Madeline Bulbulia. Ariyan Irani followed with a dominant 11–1, 11–0, 11–0 result against Sarah Kotapka, and Eveli Mälk closed out the match by defeating Tyler Kinkema 11–1, 11–0, 11–1.
The Pennsylvania State Classic concludes Sunday, November 16, as the Fords take on No. 27 Franklin & Marshall at 11 a.m. in Lancaster, Pa.
