No. 8 GW Women's Squash Ready to Continue Rise
11/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Squash
2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Roster
WASHINGTON - The George Washington women's squash team has gone from the hunters to the hunted as the 2014-15 season gets underway on Friday afternoon against Georgetown at the Matthew J. Grossman Squash Courts at Lerner Health & Wellness Center.
GW is coming off its best season in program history during which it won the Kurtz Cup (B-Division) Championship at the College Squash Association (CSA) National Championships and earned a program-best ranking of No. 9 in the country.
The Colonials have garnered the respect that they have strived for over the past few seasons under head coach Wendy Lawrence. GW opens the season as the No. 8-ranked team in the CSA Preseason Poll, the highest ranking in the history of the program.
"There are not a lot of teams above us now and they are all very talented and very deep," said Coach Lawrence. "Our season is going to be incredibly challenging. The next step for us is to go into nationals in the A-Division, the most elite division in collegiate squash, for the first time ever."
The Colonials have improved the depth across the roster with the addition of five freshmen, something Coach Lawrence identifies as a big factor moving forward towards achieving their goals.
"We have been training very well this preseason and now have some excellent depth with our five freshman," said Coach Lawrence. "They have really built up the middle and bottom of our ladder. The top freshman will be playing No. 5 to open the year and that allows us to be that much stronger from five on down."
Two-time CSA All-American Anna Gabriela Porras, already ranked fifth in program history with 31 career victories, headlines a talented returning group that lifted the Colonials to its first ever B-Division championship last season. She is joined at the top of the ladder by sophomore Breanne Flynn, who tied Porras' single-season victories record with 16 wins in her debut season.
Lone senior Alejandra Porras will open the season at No. 3 after totaling 13 wins in her debut season, while sophomore Mehawk Chawla will start the year at No. 4 after posting 10 victories as a rookie.
Freshman Mary Jo Mahfood, a member of the Jamaican Junior National team, will play No. 5 to open the season and is joined in the top six by junior Emely Levyn who has totaled 21 victories through her first two seasons.
Freshman Abby Shonrock will play No. 7 to start the year. She was ranked No. 32 in the nation as a scholastic athlete at Harriton High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Junior Eunice Tan, the hero of GW's Kurtz Cup Championship victory over Columbia, will open the season at No. 8 on the ladder while freshman Lindsey Dewey rounds out the lineup at No. 9. Dewey was the 20th-ranked high school player in the nation following a successful career at Deerfield Academy in Maine.
Rounding out GW's roster and expected to make contributions across the 13-match regular season are juniors Alexa Tzarnas (21 career victories) and Jessica Perkins, along with freshmen Erica Chemtob and Lakshmi Settipalli.
GW's schedule features seven home matches, the most in program history, with a number of marquee opponents set to visit Washington, D.C., this season. In addition to the season opener against Georgetown on Friday, the Colonials will host No. 12 Williams (Jan. 17), No. 4 Yale (Jan. 24), No. 9 Columbia (Jan. 25), No. 17 Franklin & Marshall (Feb. 6), No. 13 Drexel (Feb. 7) and No. 25 Virginia (Feb. 7) this season.
"Playing a loaded home schedule is a huge advantage for several reasons," said Coach Lawrence. "First, we have grown our home crowds considerably over the past few years and that brings up our comfort level. We have a true home-court advantage here with the crowds and it inspires our play. The other big thing is it means that we are traveling less. Staying at home more often makes our athletes that much more comfortable as we go through the grind of a season that spans two semesters."
The Colonials have their sights set on climbing the rankings through the regular season, and competing in the A-Division at Nationals in an attempt to win the Howe Cup.
"Last year we won the B-Division, which we thought was unrealistic but we did it anyway," said Coach Lawrence. "I think it is unrealistic to think we are going to win the A-Division this year, but what we really want to accomplish is be in the top-eight at the end of the regular season and then win a match or two at Nationals to try and crack the top five. That would be a monumental achievement. It is a tough goal but we think it is a doable goal."
Players Mentioned
