LANCASTER, PA — The Ephs kick off 2023 with a strong 7-2 win over the Diplomats of Franklin and Marshall. After spending a week and a half on campus for pre-season 2.0, and with a full lineup for the first time all season, the purple cows were eager for victory. Every member of the team utilized the many morning bike sessions to squeeze the win out of the opponent.
The match for the boys started fresh after the women clinched the 5-4 victory over F & M, and the men's squash team had every intention to keep the momentum rolling. Up first was
Jack Lee, who quickly disposed of his opponent with skill and dexterity 3-0. The big man himself, our Co-Captain Will Evans, also won 3-0, while first year
Alex Akbari had an impressive showing, with an unyielding play style that broke down his opponent to take the match 3-0. And last up in the first round of matches was
Pierce Henderson, who had an exhilarating match. He went up 2-0 after some brilliant squash, but unfortunately lost some momentum and dropped the next two games. However, he rallied and used all four corners of the court to take the fifth 11-7, ending the first round of matches 4-0 in the Ephs favor.
The second round of matches started with first year
John Nicholson, whose opponent unfortunately retired due to injury in the second game. Next up was Co-Captain
Udai Pal, who had a strong lead in the first but could not seal the deal and lost 13-11. However, he managed to regroup and win the third with some crafty shots, but his bag of tricks ran empty in the fourth and he lost 3-1.
Next up was
Asher Leavy, who dominated in the first two games, winning 11-2 and 11-3. However, the opponent gave one last push in the third game, which was ended promptly by a powerful cross court nick to take the third game 14-12.
Andrew Minnis played a grueling match today, with both him and his opponent using their athletic prowess to keep the ball alive. After losing a close first 13-11 and the second 11-5, Andrew regrouped with a second wind and won the third, but the wind died down and he lost 3-1. And last but certainly not least was the long-awaited return of Cameron (Birdman) Darnell. After being cooped up for the fall and half of winter, he was finally able to spread his wings in his debut match of the season. He practically flew around the court, and erupted in glee when he won 3-1, leaving the final score for the day 7-2 in the Ephs favor.
With the purple cows eyes still set on a top ten finish at Nationals, this was a crucial and necessary win. As our esteemed Co-Captain
Udai Pal said, "It was a great team win, and we will bring the same energy to our future matches." Tomorrow the Ephs will travel to the U.S. Naval Academy for their next match.
