The men’s and women’s squash teams competed for league titles this past weekend, with both programs losing in the first round, but performing well in consolation matches.

The Colby women’s squash team, seeded ninth headed into the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championships, took on Wesleyan University Feb. 3 at Trinity College. Eighth-seeded Wesleyan took a 5-4 win over the Mules in the first round of the tournament, though the Mules won the first three and sixth positions. First position player Kate Pistel ’13 came back strong after dropping the opening game with three straight game wins, while second player Molly Parsons ’13 had an impressive comeback, winning three games in a row after dropping the first two. Lindsey McKenna ’14 won 11-2, 11-6, 11-5 at the third position. The following day the team went 2-0 in consolation matches with wins against 11th-seeded Tufts University and 10th-seeded Connecticut College. Pistel, Parsons, McKenna and Liz Brehman ’15 all went 3-0 in the weekend matches, with Pistel improving to a team-best 18-7 on the season.

The weekend before, Pistel and McKenna both finished 2-1 for the Mules as Colby hosted the Maine Event at the Dunaway Courts. The Mules took a 9-1 win over Drexel University, but fell 8-1 to both Mount Holyoke College and Brown University. The highlight of the day was Pistel’s big win over Brown, as she capped the match off at 19-17 in the fourth game. McKenna also came up with the win against Brown after fighting back from her two previous losses of the day. She clinched the win in the fourth game with a tight 12-10 score, and then sealed the match with an impressive 11-0 deciding fifth game. Pistel moved to 15-9 on the season in her first position spot, while McKenna is now 13-9 at third.

The women host Bowdoin College this Saturday at 3 P.M. Seeded seventh, the Colby men’s squash team traveled to Trinity this past weekend for the NESCAC Championships. In the first round of the tournament, the Mules fell to the 10th seed, Connecticut College, in a tight 5-4 match, with Nat Cooper ’12, Pete Gabranski ’13 and John Eder ’15 all winning for Colby. Cooper and Eder both won their matches in their four games, while Gabranski battled for a 14-12 win in the fifth game, leading him to the win at the seventh position. The men faced Tufts and Hamilton College the following day, prevailing 8-1 win over Tufts, but falling 5-4 to Hamilton. Harry Smith ’12, Cooper, Gabranski and Eder all went 2-0 in consolation round matches, while Roy Simpson ’14, Will Hochman ’14, Steve Carroll ’14 and Darryl Soto ’14 also had wins for Colby.

On Thursday, Jan. 26 the Mules fell short to Bowdoin College in a tough 5-4 match. Smith won his match, as did fifth position player Hochman. Gabranski won the seventh position match by a 3-0 score, and Eder went four games to take the eighth spot matchup for the Mules. On Jan. 29, Will Sullivan ’13 moved to 18 wins on the season after going 3-1 during the Maine Event at Colby. Sullivan helped the Mules win against University of Vermont, Boston College and Drexel. Ninth position player Soto had a 3-0 win, and Cooper, Eder, Hochman and Carroll all went 3-1 on the day. Smith and Simpson both had two wins for Colby.

The men will host Bates College this Sunday at 3 P.M.

Both teams will spend the next few weeks preparing for the Intercollegiate Team Championships. The men’s tournament will be held on Feb. 17 at Princeton University, and the women’s event will be held on Feb. 24 at Harvard University. An individual tournament follows in early March.