POUGHKEEPSIE, NY -- The Vassar College co-ed squash team (men's ranked #53, women's ranked #47) faced the Haverford College Fords (men's ranked #43, women's ranked #32) at Kenyon Hall Squash Courts. Despite a strong showing of points early on, even in losing matches, the Brewers eventually fell 9-0 to Haverford on Saturday afternoon.

Senior team captain Ricardo Espinosa (Quito, Ecuador/Colegio Americano de Quito) echoed his tenacious performance on Friday by fighting Aaron Horowitz (Haverford) for 4 games, again at No. 1, winning the third 11-9 and losing the second by a slim 14-12, eventually falling 11-4, 14-12, 9-11, 11-6. Espinosa scored 33 points, the most since his December 8 game against Mike Diffenderfer of Ithaca College.

Also fighting hard on Saturday against the odds was freshman Carly Scher (Penn Valley, PA/Herriton). Scher fought opponent Sarah Madigan point-for-point, eventually dropping the game at a close 12-10, 11-9, 12-10. This is her closest loss since her win against Ithaca College's Hannah Montgomery in December.

Most exciting on the women's side was junior Margaret Walter (Ardsley-On-Hudson, NY/Phillips) who battled in two matches, No. 8 and No. 9, filling in for junior Ellie Opdahl (Tokyo, Japan/Cate School), who stepped down in the beginning of the match due to illness. After scoring only a shaky nine points in her first match against Haverford's Rachael Garnick, Walter rebounded for a 4-game match against Emilia Cobbs, winning one set. Despite the loss, Walter gave a strong showing in her second consecutive game of the afternoon, losing 11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7 in the final match of the afternoon.

The Brewers were back at it on Saturday afternoon with co-ed squash (men's ranked #53, women's ranked #47) facing the squash team from Northeastern University (ranked #32 for men's and #33 for women's). The Brewers took their losses earlier in the afternoon against Haverford College and turned it around for a strong showing against Northeastern University, with men 9-0 but fighting for every point and with the women falling 5-3.

Freshman star Carly Scher (Penn Valley, PA/Herriton) picked up momentum from her success early in the afternoon in match No. 3 to win the Brewers' first match of the day 10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 against Northeastern's Amanda Georgesco. Junior Roxanne Ringer (Ridgefield, CT/Home School) swung around from a weaker showing of only 8 points against Haverford to dominate Erica Han in a three-game match, ending 11-6, 12-10, 11-2.

Halfway through the women's matches, Vassar and Northeastern womens' teams were trading game for game for a 3-2 score, with Northeastern in the lead. Although they fell in the end, the Brewers pulled through one more win to round out the afternoon, with junior workhorse Margaret Walter (Ardsley-On-Hudson, NY/Phillips) playing her third match of the day against Asel Primbetova, winning neatly at 11-9, 8-11, 11-4, 11-6.

The men had a rougher night without wins, but still fought tooth and nail for every point. One close finish came from senior Kiet Phun (Lincoln, NE/Lincoln), who dropped the game at a slim 11-7, 13-11, 12-10 against Max Kachur after three high-point games, his highest-scoring game of the new year. Fellow senior and team co-captain Ricardo Espinosa (Quito, Ecuador/Colegio Americano) also fought for points with a tight final game for a score of 11-6, 11-5, 11-9 against Northeastern's Evan Jacobson.

The Vassar squash team is back on the courts on February 2nd against Fordham University and New York University in Bronx, NY.