John and Mithun are moving forward with development of an Urban Squash program.

An upcomming meeting will discuss transferral of our Box League scoring to the US squash site.

Next meeting 5:30 9 Mar. ‘10 at GVC

To: RSRA Captains

We are approaching the end of the season, with next week being the last of regular season play, so I just wanted to send a quick note regarding the playoff schedule.
Since we had a full season this year, we will use the #1 v #4 (at #1) and #2 v #3 (at #2) format, with the winners playing at the higher ranked team’s venue the following week.
Times will be the same as for regular league matches, e.g. 7:10 if at Med Center, 6:00 if at Harro, and 7:00 for anywhere else.

So:
- Week of Monday, March 15 will be the semis (#4 at #1, #3 at #2)
- Week of Monday, March 22 will be the finals (winners of the previous week play at the higher ranked club’s home court)

Since some of the leagues are very close this year, can you please report the scores as soon as possible so that we have plenty of time to figure out possibly tied situations. I will notify the captains of the playoff schedule as soon as I can once the scores have been submitted.
Thanks, and good luck!
Mark Raeside
RSRA League Coordinator

CSA WOMEN’S NATIONALS UPDATE
(2/26): Rochester bt. Notre Dame 9-0
(2/27): Wellesley bt Rochester 7-2
Complete results available here.

Close on the heels of the CSA Men’s National Championship is the women’s event being played this weekend once again at Yale University. Rochester’s newly formed women’s squad which was introduced to the community during Meliora weekend in the fall and also on this blog has had a busy debut season. The team, unofficially coached by local players John Walsh and Tracy Ali, is a dedicated & committed group practicing three nights a week.
Last Saturday, the final score was 9-0 in favor of William Smith but the UR women did show great improvement from their first match against the same team in November. On Friday Feb 26, they will be participating in the E Division at the Women’s National Championship at Yale University. GO YELLOWJACKETS!
2009-10 Women’s Squash College Rankings (updated 2/22/2010)

“The majority of the girls on the team hadn’t played squash before coming to Rochester, but we’ve made great progress over the past few months with the help of our coach, John Walsh, and member of the Rochester squash community, Tracy Ali. John has helped us immensely with swing technique, movement, and general knowledge of the game. We’re really looking forward to meeting and competing with new teams at Nationals.” – Amanda Pollock ‘10

“After competing in a challenging match against William Smith Fall Semester, a second match against William Smith on Saturday will be particularly exciting for us. The team will be able to gauge how far we have come since October. Also, we look forward to not only competing at Yale, but also meeting other clubs and watching the top girl’s matches. Since men and women play a slightly different game, it will be interesting to see how the women’s matches are.” – Clarissa Perkins ‘12

ROSTER: Alison Hamlin, Amanda Pollock ‘10 Clare Zweig ‘12, Clarissa Perkins ‘12 Eliza Friedman ‘11, Elizabeth Vidaurre ‘10, Erica Gelb (Grad), Hannah Lee ‘12, Kate Weber Laura Chess ‘12, Lauren Reynolds ‘10, captain Nandini Seshan ‘11, Paola Pinto ‘10 Sarah Hulbert ‘12 Sofia Melgarejo ‘11 Stephanie Herrlinger ‘10, Suzanne McKenzie

SCHEDULE/RESULTS: Oct 31st, vs. Notre Dame @ Cleveland, Win 6-3 (places 2(LR), 3(CZ), 4(EG), 6(AP), 8(CP) & 9(LC)) Nov 14th, vs. William Smith @ home, Loss 9-0 Dec 5th, vs. Hamilton @ Hamilton, Loss 7-0 Dec 5th, vs. Colgate @ Hamilton, Loss 6-1 (place 4(AP)) Dec 5th, vs. Toronto @ Hamilton, Loss 7-0 Feb 5th, vs. Franklin & Marshall @ home, Loss 9-0 Feb 20th, vs. William Smith @ WS, Loss 9-0 2010 E Division Round Robin schedule at the Women’s Nationals: # Rochester vs Notre Dame : 4:30 PM Fri 2/26 @ Yale # Rochester vs Wellesley : 11:30 AM Sat 2/27 @ Yale # Rochester vs Drexel : 2:00 PM Sun 2/28 @ Yale

UR Women’s team lined up for introductions at the William Smith match on Feb 20 2010

UR Women’s team member: Lauren Reynolds

Yellowjacket squashers Aly, Laura, Sofia, Suzanne, Kate after the match against William Smith on Feb 20 2010

UR Women’s team member: Claire Zweig

UR Women’s team member: Amanda Rosemore (white)

Team Rochester at Cleveland

Rochester women’s squash with Notre Dame at Cleveland

UR Women’s team member: Laura Chess

The University of Rochester Men’s team beat Cornell 7-2 in the first round of the Division 1 Potter Cup in a repeat performance of their recent faceoff on the home courts in early February. But the big match was yet to come as they squared off in the semifinals against the most improved team this year, the Yale University Bulldogs, on their home courts. At one point with the score tied at 3-3, the atmosphere was electrifying with fans in the stands, the stairs, the viewing decks, anywhere there was place to stand in the beautiful Brady Squash Center. At that stage, the match could have gone either way but in the end Yale pulled ahead with an gritty 5-4 win to earn a spot in the final against the mighty Trinity Bantams (The Bantam’s eventually won their 12th consecutive title defeating Yale 6-3 in the final on Sunday). The Yellowjacket’s had been just a whisker away from making history as never before have two non-Ivy league schools competed in the finals of the Potter cup in the 80 years of college squash. However, this is the closest the team has been to making it to the CSA finals (they lost 8-1 to Princeton in the semifinals last year) and that in itself is a significant achievement for the Yellowjackets who were ranked 24th in the nation less than five years ago. The team concluded the season with a 7-2 loss to Princeton in the 3/4 place playoff which was played at the Kellner Squash Center on the Trinity college campus on Sunday afternoon.

Rochester alum Piet Van Leer shot some great video of the epic 3-2 win (7-11,11-5,11-8,9-11,11-9) by Rochester’s Will Newnham over Yale’s John Roberts. The win really put Rochester back into the game. (Watch full-screen for hi-def)

For a complete roundup of the weekend’s action, check out CollegeSquashAssociation.Com
See also – Yellowjackets at the 2009 CSA Team Nationals

Photos from 2010 CSA Nationals by Robert McDavid:

(Round 1 – complete set)

(Seminifnals – complete set)

(3/4 Playoff – complete set)

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Finally, SquashRochester will be travelling (on the first official Yellowjacket fan bus) to the CSA Nationals at Yale University this weekend where the Yellowjackets take on the most elite college squash teams in the nation in the Potter Cup, an end-of-season knockout tournament. Watch this space over the weekend for updates on the team’s progress on the road. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to follow the Yellowjackets themselves on Facebook and Twitter as well.

Rochester bt. Cornell 7-2

Also, check out this excellent clip profiling the Yellowjackets at the University of Rochester Athletics website. Aren’t you proud to be a Yellowjacket fan?

Photos from the Rochester vs Cornell match on Sunday (© 2010 Paul Schwartz):

ROCHESTER YELLOWJACKETS (#3) vs. FRANKLIN & MARSHALL DIPLOMATS (#12)
When: 6:00 pm Friday February 5th 2010
Coach’s Corner: “F&M return to the Lyman Squash Courts at the University of Rochester. F&M have been a solid team for many years, and with the addition of former former PSA World No.1 John White as coach, look to rise up and challenge the best teams in the league.
The addition of Juan Diego Lopez from Colombia and Guillerme de Melo from Brazil (brother of Gabriel already at F&M) strengthen the line-up.
F&M is a work in progress, and while Rochester don’t expect too much trouble, there are some very talented players that could produce surprising victories if Rochester aren’t sharp.”

ROCHESTER YELLOWJACKETS (#3) vs. CORNELL BIG RED (#6)
When: Sunday February 7th, 12:00 pm *BIG MATCH*
Coach’s Corner:“Despite finishing 6th in Nationals last year after losses to Yale & Harvard, Cornell were awarded the most improved team award for their season. Cornell have also never lost to Rochester.
Cornell have an umbilical cord to Ontario and recruit the best players form the province, as well as some strong US players. This year they added Arjun Gupta, who will most likely start mid-to-high order.
A very similar line-up to Rochester in terms of ability down the order, this match is impossible to predict. Rochester suffered a 5-4 loss last season at Cornell, and now look to reverse this result on home soil. This could be a very interesting local rivalry for years to come.”

ROCHESTER YELLOWJACKETS (#3) vs HOBART STATESMEN (#24)
When: Wednesday February 10th, 6:00 pm
Coach’s Corner:“A local derby played mid-week and a repeat of the Liberty League match earlier in the season.
Legendary player and coach Carol Weymuller, Head Coach, brings a sense of discipline and knowledge to the Hobart players.”

“You’ve probably heard the sound of a squash game being played before, but chances are you’ve never heard it like the University of Rochester’s Squash team plays it. The Yellowjackets have players hailing from near and far – 11 countries, four different continents, all brought together by one common sport…..
….Rochester’s coach is an interational as well….. Putting together a virtual United Nations of squash talent was his idea when he first came to Rochester. “I wanted to create this very diverse group of athletes, because the experience that they get learning from each other,” Heath told us. “To me, that’s the best thing about meeting people….””

Watch the entire video of the piece on 13WHAM.

NOTE from SquashRochester: Many thanks to Midtown Athletic Club and Peter Brizee for making this possible. Please forward this email and invite your friends, especially the non-squash playing ones to witness this wonderful spectator event. Arrangements at Midtown are excellent with a brilliant large screen HDTV, excellent sound, enough comfortable seating for a large crowd and a cafe nearby for a meal while you watch and mingle with the squash community. Plus the live streaming from the new PSASquash.TV service is world class with multiple camera angles, zoom, replays and commentary bringing professional squash to a whole new level making squash a true spectator sport!
Also check out TocSquash.Com and the Squashsite ToC mini-site for entire schedule of events from Grand Central.

©SquashPics.Com

“Rochester defeated Yale 5-4 last year at Nationals in what was one of the most nail-biting finishes ever in college squash.
Freshman Matt Domenick was up against Junior and season-long No.1 Aaron Fuchs in the deciding match. Matt pulled off an incredible 3-2 victory against his more experienced opponent to send Rochester into the semi-finals. This was the first time Rochester had beaten Yale and their first time they would compete in the semi-finals of the CSA Nationals.
This result reversed an enjoyable 5-4 tussle between Yale & Rochester at Yale during the season. Yale rallied from behind to clinch some unlikely victories and the overall match 5-4, though this loss made the reversal all the more sweet for Rochester later in the season.
Yale look to have a very strong recruiting year, and while they lose two solid performers from their mid-order in Colin Campbell & Francis Johnson, they look to have improved their overall standard.
The result is far from being predictable, though Rochester will have the home court advantage this year.”

They face off again this Sunday after almost a year. The Bulldogs will be looking for sweet revenge but the Yellowjackets have the home court advantage. So come give it to them!
When: Sunday, January 10, 2010, 1:00pm-4:00pm
Where: Lyman Squash Courts, University of Rochester
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