The Varsity Blues women’s squash team earned their 11th consecutive medal as they defeated the McMaster Marauders in a thrilling bronze-medal match at the 2010 OUA championships on Saturday, February 13 at Northfield Squash Club in Waterloo, Ont.

Earlier in the day the Blues had lost 5-1 to the number one ranked and eventual champion Queen’s Gaels. In her first appearance in an OUA playoff, Agata Bartczak (Toronto) picked up the only win in the number six position (3-1), easily avenging her loss against Alison Wardlaw who she had played in the OUA crossover in January.

Toronto was then set to face the McMaster Marauders in the bronze-medal match. The Blues tied McMaster 3-3 earlier in the season but were awarded the win on a count of points won throughout the whole match. This time the Marauders had strengthened their line up, while the Blues were missing their number two Cami Marmoush (Cairo, Egypt) due to injury. U of T knew that the match would be close and that every game and point won might determine the outcome of the result.

The match started with Megan Northey (Victoria, B.C.) playing McMaster veteran Kristina Taylor in the number one spot, while on the court next door Blues veteran Soojin Yi (Toronto) faced Anoushka Patel in her last game as a Varsity Blue at the number four position.

Both matches started well for the Blues with Yi jumping out to a 2-0 lead and Northey taking the first game. However, things quickly turned around and Taylor took the second and third games 11-9 before closing out the match to win 3-1 over Northey.

Yi’s opponent fought her way back into the match to square the scores 2-2 but in a desperately close and nail-biting fifth game, Yi came from behind to win 11-9. The overall match score was 1-1 with McMaster leading 5-4 on games.

Toronto then won the next two matches to give them an overall 3-1 lead. Bartczak won her second match of the day beating Shannon Galea 3-1 in the number six spot, while Blues number five Daniah Shamim of Oshawa, Ont. absolutely dominated her opponent 3-0 (11-1, 11-0, 11-4).

The number two match was the next to finish, where U of T veteran Shuhsien Zhu (Toronto), also playing her last match as a Varsity Blue, faced OUA second team all-star Sunaya Gupta. Although Zhu lost the match 3-0, she did manage to pick up 19 very valuable points.

The number three match would decide who took home the bronze medal. If the Blues won, they would take the match 4-2, however, if McMaster won 3-0 or 3-1, the overall match result would be tied 3-3 and McMaster would win 12-10 on games won. Furthermore, if Rebeca Tristan Aldave (San Luis Potosi, Mexico) of the Varsity Blues managed to win at least two games but still lose 3-2, the overall match would be tied 3-3 on matches, 12-12 on games and so the total match points won by each team would decide the result.

Due to Marmoush’s injury, Aldave was forced to step up and play in the number three spot. She showed no fear as she won the first game 11-9 with a series of blistering winners which caught her opponent off guard.

McMaster’s Katie Buck won the second and third games to take a 2-1 lead and keep McMaster just in front in the match result. To stand a chance of winning the bronze medal, Aldave now had to win at least one of the last two matches.

In front of a packed gallery, Aldave won the fourth game 11-8 to even the match as coaches and on-lookers began to tally the number of points each team had won. Aldave went down in the fifth game 11-7 to lose the match 3-2 but had levelled the overall score to 3-3 in matches and 12-12 in games.

The calculations seem to take forever but eventually the result was declared. Toronto and McMaster tied 3-3 in its fixture and 12-12 in individual matches, but the Blues won the tiebreaker by nine points on total score aggregate (214-205) to earn their 11th consecutive OUA medal dating back to 2000.

Although everyone had made significant contributions to the result, two performances were outstanding for the Blues. Shamim’s 3-0 win where she effectively won the match 33-5 made the difference in points differential and the two games that Aldave won in losing 3-2 levelled up the games won by each team.

“Winning bronze here was just as satisfying as winning gold in previous years,” said head coach David Cooper.

“The team has struggled this year with injuries and player availability but has never given up,” boasted team captain Megan Northey. “This medal means all our efforts are rewarded.”

BRONZE MEDAL GAME
Toronto defeats McMaster 3-3 (12-12 match record; 214-205 total score)
Megan Northey lost Kristina Taylor 1-3 (11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 4-11)
Shuhsien Zhu lost Sunayna Gupta 0-3 (5-11, 6-11, 8-11)
Rebecca Tristan lost Arclave Katie Buck 2-3 (11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 4-11, 7-11)
Soojin Yi won Anoushka Patel 3-2 (11-7, 11-7, 4-11, 10-12, 11-9)
Daniah Shamim won Megan Raczkowski 3-0 (11-1, 11-0, 11-4)
Agata Bartczak won Shanon Galea 3-1 (11-6, 11-2, 5-11, 14-12)

SEMIFINALS
Queen’s defeats Toronto 5-1
Erin Roberts won Megan Northey 3-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-5)
Heather Lamb won Shuhsien Zhu 3-0 (11-6, 11-3, 11-2)
Julie Dales won Rebecca Tristan 3-0 (11-7, 11-0, 11-3)
Caitlin Klein won Soojin Yi 3-0 (11-9, 11-3, 11-7)
Hilary Dugan won Daniah Shamim 3-0 (11-7, 11-3, 11-7)
Alison Wardlaw lost Agata Bartczak 1-3 (11-5, 11-6, 11-13, 11-3)