Williamstown, MA-- This afternoon, the Eph men's squash team returned to action after a month-long period of training. Williams came out of the gate a little slowly, but quickly ramped up the intensity. The first round of matches saw three game wins from Mason Elizondo '18 (#9) and Varun Sharma '16 (#6), while Galen Squiers '16 (#3) split the first two games with a strong opponent. He was able to continue to fight, and won the next two games to secure the point for Williams.
The second slate of matches also proved favorable to Williams. Jamie Havran '18 (#8) and Michael Petrick '16 (#5) each downed their Continental opponents in three games, while freshman John Fitzgerald '19 (#2) battled intensely on the top court. He won the first game easily, but then lost the second, as Hamilton player Colin O'dowd '19 (#2) showed good skill in the front of the court. It was shaping up to be a very close battle between two of the top freshman players in the NESCAC. Fitzgerald won the third game narrowly by ramping up the pace of the match, but then lost the fourth as O'dowd got more and more creative with his shot selection. Fitzgerald played very good squash in the fifth game, but unfortunately lost 12-10.
The Ephs were able to secure all three of the matches in the last round to win the match 8-1. David Pincus '19 (#7), John Shuck '17 (#4), and Jamie Ruggiero '17 (#1) all won in three games to send the Williams team into the weekend on a positive note. Coach Levy said about the match: "I was really pleased with the work that the players put in on the court tonight. Everyone was very focused on what they needed to do, and we have a huge match this weekend vs. Bates and I hope we can play up to the challenge."
Up next is a road trip to Maine as the Ephs have three matches in two days, against Bates, Colby and Bowdoin.
