Cards Open Howe Cup with Win Over Columbia, Fall to Amherst & Vassar to Place 20th Overall
Katie Kalafus '09 (photo) was one of five Cardinals to post a win over Columbia Fri., Feb. 13 in the opening round of the Howe Cup at Harvard, as Wesleyan prevailed, 5-4. The victory avenged a loss last weekend to Columbia during the Vassar Team Challenge, which Wesleyan won in combination with the men, and gave the Cardinals the rubber match as Wesleyan posted a 6-3 win over Columbia back on Dec. 7.
Wesleyan, seeded 21st nationally and fifth in "C" Division, advanced to play Amherst, seeded first in the division, in a match Sat., Feb. 14. Amherst had beaten Wesleyan twice this season, 6-3 and 7-2, and added a third victory, 6-3.
Joining Kalafus, who won 3-0 at #7, with a sweep of their Columbia rival was Jenny Chu '11 at #6 and Rachael Ghorbani '09 at #9. Winning by 3-1 counts were #3 Liz Demakos '09 and #5 Keera Bhandari '08.
Against Amherst, Wesleyan's winners were Bhandari, Kalafus and Ghorbani. The Cardinals closed out the Howe Cup by taking on Vassar Sun., Feb. 15 in the battle for 19th place nationally. Vassar, which had defeated Wesleyan eight days earlier, 6-3, during the Vassar Team Challenge, captured a 7-2 win to leave the Cardinals in fourth place in the "C" Division and 20th nationally. Caroline Fox '12 won at #8 and Ghorbani picked up a default win at #9 for the Cardinals' two triumphs over the Brewers.
For the season, three Cardinals racked up 14 victories as Kalafus went 14-11, Bhandari went 14-13 and Ashley Garrett '12, who did not compete in the Howe Cup, had the team's best winning percentage with a 14-2 record. Next best in winning percentage was Ghorbani with a 12-4 record.
Wesleyan closed out the dual-match season with a 12-15 record.
Two Cardinals went on to compete in the National Individual Tournament hosted by Williams Fri., Feb. 27 - Sat., March 1. There top player Casey Simchik '10 went 1-2 while Demakos lost both her matches. Both played in the Holleran Cup Division.
