W. squash splits Saturday double-header

After opening its season with three nine-game sweeps in its first three matches, the women’s squash team dropped its first contest of the season, a 6-3 defeat at the hands of Columbia.

The Colonials took the first two games against the 20th-ranked Lions, but proceeded to drop the next six in a row before winning the ninth and final game. Three of the 16th-ranked Colonials’ losses went more than three sets, including freshman Elizabeth Tapley’s five-set loss in the fourth game.

Saturday wasn’t a complete wash for GW, which defeated 30th-ranked Virginia in the first half of the Colonials’ double-header at the Lerner Health and Wellness Center. GW topped the Cavaliers 9-0 and didn’t drop a set in the match. Only three Virginia players scored six points or more in any one of the 27 total sets Saturday morning.

The men’s squash team also earned a victory Saturday, topping Columbia 9-0 at home. Freshman Islam El-Fiky set the tone for the Colonials from the match’s opening game. El-Fiky recorded victories by scores of 11-2, 11-5 and 12-10. Junior Jose Calderon, who played Saturday in the number three slot, rebounded after losing the second set to win the final two sets by scores of 12-10 and 11-7.

Both teams will be off until Dec. 4, when they’ll begin play at the Wesleyan Round Robin in Middletown, Conn. The men’s team will take on Colby and Wesleyan Dec. 4, followed by games against Bowdoin and Trinity the next day. The women’s team will kick off the tournament with games against Colby and Wesleyan Dec. 4.

Swimming

Senior Paola Leor broke her own program record in the 50-yard freestyle over the weekend at the Patriot Invitational hosted by George Mason in Fairfax, Va. Leor finished the race in 23.47 seconds, more than a tenth of a second better than her previous record, which she set at the Atlantic 10 Championships Feb. 18.

The Colonials had eight swimmers finish in the top-10 in their events Saturday between the men’ and women’s teams. Sophomore Phillip Graeter placed sixth in both the 400-yard individual medley and the 100-yard backstroke. Sophomore Alex Etz finished 10th in the 100-yard backstroke, earning points for his team and touching the wall just over two tenths of a second slower than his teammate Graeter. Sophomore Niklas Glenesk took seventh place in the 200-yard freestyle.

On the women’s side, GW finished eighth in the 200-yard medley with a time of 1:49.69 Saturday. Freshman Caroline Myers continued her strong rookie season with a win in the 500-yard freestyle Friday afternoon. She also finished sixth in the 200-yard individual medley Friday.