After finishing seventh in 2023, the Brock Badgers women's squash team are hoping that experience will help them move up the rankings in 2024.
This year's Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Women's Squash Championship takes place on a familiar court at the White Oaks Resort in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The three-day competition is hosted by the Western Mustangs.
Round-robin matches start on Friday as the Badgers take on the 2023 bronze medalists Western Mustangs at 2:45 p.m. and the McMaster Marauders at 4:45 p.m. Saturday's 11:30 a.m. match against the Guelph Gryphons is the final round-robin contest, with the semifinals and consolation semifinals following at 3:30 p.m. The tournament concludes with the final and consolation matches on Sunday.
"We feel we will be a tough challenge for all of the teams and we will be looking to move up the rankings and improve on our seventh-place finish from last year," said head coach Matt Easingwood. We are highly motivated, and the women have been training all year in anticipation of this OUA championship. They have been attending practice regularly and training extra time on their own."
The Badgers started out the season with wins over the McMaster Marauders and Laurier Golden Hawks winning those matches by scores of 5-2 and 6-1.
Their next two competitions saw the Badgers gain valuable experience with matches against last year's bronze medalists Western Mustangs and 2023 consolation finalists Waterloo Warriors.
Easingwood and the team are hoping that preparation will pay off as they compete this weekend.
Danielle Tonna has been in the local squash scene since she was young and will be competing in her second provincial championship. Coming in with experience from her club time in Richmond Hill, the Vaughn native has brought in fresh ideas to the team and is always willing to work with new players.
Another mentor the team looks up to is Julie Do. Hailing from Toronto Urban Squash, the North York product has been threatening other team's number two players all season and is someone the Badgers will be leaning on for a strong tournament.
Rounding out the top four will be sophomores Samantha Curl and Allison MacPhail, who both gained experience at least year's OUA Championship.
Easingwood has built a roster full of depth, and the relatively new players have been improving at a high rate this season. At the beginning of the season, the team had a lot of students try out and whittled down the team from 12 to the final eight who will be attending the provincial championships.
With some tough challenge matches between teammates now behind them, the Badgers are hoping they peak at the right time in their home court of White Oaks.
Live results can be found here.
