Bobcat of the Week of Feb. 18, 2013: Cheri-Ann Parris ’13
Even as the Bates women’s squash team’s outstanding run through the CSA Women’s Team Nationals came to a close with an 8-1 loss to Dartmouth in the Kurtz Cup championship match, senior captain Cheri-Ann Parris continued to deliver victories.
Parris (St. Philip, Barbados) earned Bates’ lone point with her 3-1 (11-7, 13-15, 11-4, 11-6) victory over Melina Turk at the No. 2 position — Parris’s sixth straight individual win, moving her to 15-6 on the year.
Bates’ loss to Dartmouth came after a pair of upset victories in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of Kurtz Cup play. On Friday, thanks in part to sophomore All-American teammate Nessrine Ariffin’s (Penang, Malaysia) return to Bates’ lineup, 15th-seeded Bates downed 10th-seeded rival Williams 5-4, including Parris’s straight-game (11-9, 11-6, 11-5) win over the Ephs’ Laura Henry at the No. 2 position. Bates put down another higher-ranked rival the following day, ousting No. 11 Middlebury by a 6-3 score, with Parris winning again at No. 2 over Abigail Jenkins, 13-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-7.
As with all of her matches during her rookie and sophomore seasons at Bates, the majority of Parris’s matches this season have come at the No. 1 position, while Ariffin has dealt with injury. The one-time NESCAC Rookie of the Year and three-time (soon to become four-time) First Team All-NESCAC selection finished her career with a 64-27 individual record, and has served as team captain for the past two years.