Dana Hall Junior Girls Open

December 5-7, 2008

On the weekend of December 5th – 7th the four relatively new courts of the Shipley Center at the Dana Hall School in Wellesley hosted over 50 girls for its second annual tournament. There was a decidedly local flavor to the tournament with nearly 20 participants from SquashBusters and a strong showing from the interscholastic teams of Nobles, Milton, Winsor, and Dana Hall.

All four divisions played the new PAR scoring to 11 points, which made for some quick matches, but also some very long games. In the first round of the GU15 Consolation, for example, Vanessa Anderson beat Sarah Hargreaves in the fourth game, 27-25, which sent the match into its 40th minute. Anderson eventually won the match, but the effort of such a long match had done considerable damage and she was unable to win in the next round. Nearing the 30 minute lunch break on Saturday, many matches had started early and ended even earlier. For the next 45 minutes all 4 courts saw a minimum of 5 girls playing Queen of the Court – a wonderful sight for all involved in the tournament.

In the GU13 Marina Hartnick, seeded #1, didn’t give up a single game on her way to the finals where she beat Samantha Chai in three games. Katrina Northrop, of Brooklyn, NY, won the 3/4 playoff in four games over Annie Blasberg. The Consolation was taken by Sarah Bell in four games over Fiona Ross and the Plate was won by Yamiles Urena.

The GU15 was the largest draw with 25 entries. As in the GU13, the number one seed was the eventual champion, though Caroline Monrad had to work a little harder, giving up a game to her Nobles teammates Lily Grant in the quarters and Zoe Carey in the final. Hannah McCormack was the third place finisher, beating yet another Nobles player: Madeleine Smith. Lillie Simourian won the Consolation Round and Dana Rapisarda won the Classic Plate. Sarah Hargreaves won the Plate Final.

An unseeded player from Brooklyn, NY had to upset the number 1 and 2 seeds in the GU17 draw, which had only 9 entries. Alyssa Northrop played a fantastic semifinal against Ariel Posner. After losing the first game 12-10, Ariel fought hard in the second to win 11-7. Alyssa came back stronger in the third to win 11-9 and establish a better rhythm that would carry her through the fourth game 11-5. Despite winning the first game of her semi-final 12-10, Kate Nimmo was hardly challenged en route to meeting Alyssa Northrop in the final. The two finalists battled through the closest final of the tournament, with Kate taking the first game 12-10 and Alyssa the next two 11-7. Kate stepped up in the fourth game to win 11-8, only to find that Alyssa had the extra skill and fortune to win the fifth 12-10. Ariel Posner was able to beat Andrea Tran in four games to take third place. Whitney Reimann took the Consolation Round and Hoai Tran won the Plate Final.

All four entries in the GU19 round robin had recently celebrated their 17th birthdays. Dori Rahbar was crowned champion over Buffalo’s Laura Caty in four games. Christy Haughey, having learned a great deal by playing the two finalists was able to beat Audrey Guerrero in three.

On behalf of the Dana Hall School, I’d like to thank all of the players and their parents for coming to the Shipley Center for a great weekend of squash. We hope to be a catalyst in the growth of this sport amongst young women and cannot do it without your interest and energy. Special thanks go to Tom Poor, Azi Djazani, Libby McClintock and the entire Mass Junior Committee. We’d also like to thank Harrow Sports for supplying shirts and prizes and last, but not least, Cross Courts Squash and Fitness Center, for running the boys’ side of the tournament.