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Harvard's Sobhy Repeats as CSA Women's Individual Champion
Brackets
Portions courtesy Harvard Athletic Communications and
Princeton Athletic Communications
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Harvard sophomore
Amanda Sobhy completed the repeat and made it
four-straight for Ivy League women's squash, taking the 2013
College Squash Association (CSA) women's individual title over
Trinity freshman Kanzy El Defrawy.
Princeton junior Lexi Saunders almost made it an
Ivy League sweep on the women's side, but fell short in the
Holleran Cup bracket finale to Stanford's Madeline
Gill.
On the men's side, Princeton senior Todd
Harrity fell short of a second CSA men's individual
championship in a 11-4, 11-6, 12-10 loss to St. Lawrence's
Amr Khalifa. Tiger freshman Vivek
Dinodia impressed throughout the weekend and captured the
Molloy Cup title with an upset over top-seeded and fellow Ivy
Blake Reinson of Brown.
Sobhy moved to 30-0 in her collegiate career in defeating El
Defrawy for the third time in less than a month. She took the first
game, 11-4, to open up an early lead. The Sea Cliff, N.Y., native
then won the second, 11-5, to put herself on the verge of clinching
a second straight individual crown. El Defrawy refused to go down
without a fight, staving off a match point in the final game with
the score 10-9; however, Sobhy won the next two points to prevail
in the third, 12-10. Sobhy's win gives the Crimson its 13th women's
individual national title in program history.
Khalifa defeated Harvard's Ali Farag in a
five-game marathon in the semifinals and he built on that momentum
by winning the final six points for an 11-4 first-game win against
Harrity. He took the second game 11-6, but Harrity dug deep and
pushed Khalifa in a tough third. Harrity led throughout much of the
game, but Khalifa battled back to draw even at 10-10. He fought off
one match ball at 11-10, but Khalifa won the next two to claim his
first national title.
Khalifa's win marked the first men's CSA men's individual national
title not won by a player from the Ivy League or Trinity since
1989, when Scott Dulmage won from Western
Ontario.
Dinodia took on Reinson in the Molloy Cup final, which started
with the two splitting the first two games. Reinson took a 2-1
advantage before Dinodia drew even with a 12-10 win in the fourth
and then clinched with a 13-11 decision in the fifth.
Saunders played a pair of marathons of her own, first topping
teammate and classmate Alex Sawin in the one
semifinal, before falling to Gill in a 3-2 thriller in the Holleran
Cup title tilt.
CSA INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Prior to its individual national championships, the CSA announced
its 2013 award winners, which included Harrity and Dartmouth's
Chris Hanson being honored with the Skillman
Award. The Skillman Award is given annually to a senior men's
squash player who has demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship during
his entire college career.
