Men's Squash Takes 4th in NESCAC Championships

Hartford, CT--The Williams men traveled down to Trinity for the annual NESCAC tournament. Going into it as the fourth seed, which was the lowest they had ever been seeded in the history of the event, the Ephs were hungry for a chance to play Bates or Middlebury again and improve their national ranking. All matches were played in the five-court system, meaning evens played first followed by the odd numbered players. In the first round of the tournament, Williams played Colby for a spot in the semi-finals. The Ephs came out of the gates strongly, and each player fought hard to secure a point for the team. In the first round of matches, Will Ruggiero '19 (#8), David Pincus '19 (#6), John Shuck '17 (#4), and John Fitzgerald '19 (#2) all secured points for the Ephs handily, putting the team up 4-0.

In the second slate of matches, Williams also proved to be the better team. Varun Sharma '16 (#9), Michael Petrick '16 (#5), and Jamie Ruggiero '17 (#1) all cruised to easy vistories, putting the Ephs up 7-0. Jamie Havrain '19 (#7) and Galen Squiers '16 (#3) each took five games to down their Colby opponents, but secured the final two points for the Ephs, giving Williams the match 9-0. 

The Williams Men knew the semi-final match against Trinity would be extremely tough going into it. The Bantams were ranked #1 in the country, and have not lost a match all season. With a slightly depleted lineup, the Ephs rested a few tired players, Williams lost 9-0 to Trinity. Varun Sharma (#6) was the only Eph to capture a game. Anand Butler '19 (#10) beat his opponent 3-1, giving him his first Varsity win. The loss sent Williams to the 3/4 place match, where they were looking for a chance to avenge their early season loss to the Middlebury Panthers. 

On Sunday Morning, Williams took on the Middlebury Panthers in a match that everybody knew would be extremely close. Williams went down 2-0 early, as Freshmen Will Ruggiero and David Pincus both lost 3-0 to skilled opponents. The Ephs then gained two needed points as John Shuck (#4) and Varun Sharma (#9) both won in four games, evening the match at 2-2. Williams then gained another point, as Michale Petrick played sound squash, downing his opponent in three easy games. Williams looked to be in a good position, as John Fitzgerald and Jamie Havran were both in tight matches at the #2 and #7 positions respectively. Unforutnately for the Ephs, both lost in four close games, giving the Panthers a 4-3 lead. With two players left to play, the Williams Men put their fates on the backs of Jamie Ruggiero and Galen Squiers. Ruggiero stumbled at first, going down 2-1, but then was able to win the final two games easily, winning the match 3-2, and evening the match score at 4 points a piece. The match came down to the #3 position. In front of a large crowd of people, Galen Squiers played great squash against an extremely skilled opponent, but lost in three clsoe games, giving Middlebury the match 5-4. It was a tough loss for Williams, but coach Levy was happy with the way that the team played. It was a much closer result than when the two teams met a few weeks ago at the Simon Squash Center.

Next up for the Ephs is the final home match of the season against the Dartmouth Big Green, Tuesday at 5pm at the Simon Squash Center.