March 4, 2012

Harvard's Sobhy Wins CSA Women's Individual National Title

Portions courtesy of Harvard Athletic Communications and Yale Sports Publicity

AMHERST, Mass. -- The Ivy League swept Ramsay and Holleran Cups at the College Squash Association (CSA) Individual Championships as Harvard freshman Amanda Sobhy won the Ramsey Cup with a 3-0 sweep of Yale sophomore Millie Tomlinson and fellow Bulldog Shihui Mao defeated Trinity's Robyn Hodgson in the Holleran Cup title match.

Sobhy started Sunday's championship contest with a flurry of points in the first game. The Harvard freshman built a 6-0 lead over Tomlinson, before surrendering a point and easily cruised to an 11-5 win to open up a 1-0 lead.

In the second game, Tomlinson built an early 5-1 lead, but Sobhy quickly turned the momentum around. Sobhy, the tournament's No. 1 seed, scored the next four points to even the score and used another four-point run to gain a 2-0 advantage in the match with an 11-7 win.

The third game started as a back-and-forth battle with Sobhy holding a one-point lead at 7-6. With the game in question, Sobhy used a three-point swing to get within championship point. Tomlinson, the tournament's defending champion, tinned on the next rally to give Sobhy the 2012 CSA individual championship.

Sobhy completed the tournament without losing a game, while giving up no more than seven points in a frame. The freshman finished the 2011-12 season with a 15-0 overall record.

The win gives Harvard its 12th Ramsay Cup, given to the nation's individual champion and first since Laura Gemmell won the title in 2010.