WILLIAMSTOWN, MA. – This Saturday, the Williams Men's Squash team opened their home courts in style with an exciting double-header against Cornell and then Hamilton. The team was excited to start the 2023-24 season, and co-captain
Andrew Minnis said that the team already showed "major signs of improvement" and he was "proud of the team for
rallying against Hamilton".
First up against Cornell were
Andrew Minnis,
Alex Akbari, and
Charles Merrill, who all put up good fights but ultimately fell in 3 to talented players. Next up was Co-Captain
Will Evans, who lost a close first 14-12, and won the third 11-8, but eventually lost 3-1.
John Nicholson had a close match against his opponent but couldn't find the win and lost 3-2 to a skillful player. However,
Leonard Lee had the only win of the day, playing some smart and diligent squash, winning 3-0 against his opponent.
In the last round against Cornell,
Asher Leavy faced a talented player and lost in a hard fought three games. First year
Nick Agger had an extremely tough match, winning the first two but unfortunately lost 3-2 against an opponent who utilized every trick he had to win. Lastly, first year
Hudson Lin had a close four game match with several games going to 10-10, but he fell to a talented player 3-1, leaving the final game score 8-1 in favor of Cornell.
A few hours later, the Ephs rallied and faced off against Hamilton. The purple cows had a solid showing down the ladder, not dropping a single game across the board. First up was
Andrew Minnis,
Alex Akbari, and
Charles Merrill.
Andrew Minnis and
Charles Merrill won in three against their opponent using their good ball control, and
Alex Akbari stayed cool and collected even when his opponent made some impressive shots to win in three as well.
Will Evans,
John Nicholson, and
Rafay Syed quickly followed suit, also winning in a decisive three games.
And last on for the day was
Asher Leavy,
Nick Agger, and
Hudson Lin.
Asher Leavy and
Hudson Lin both made quick work of their opponents, and then gathered around court two to watch the end of Agger's match, where even though the Hamilton player made some Collegiate Squash Association shot of the month worthy shots, Nick won out in three, leaving the final score 9-0 in Williams's favor. A special mention also goes out to
Will Comyns, who had a brilliant match against a familiar opponent at the 12th seed.
All in all, it was not a bad showing for the Ephs, who ended their home debut match in relatively high spirits, looking to come back from their defeat against Cornell even better. Their next match is not until after the Thanksgiving holiday, when they face off against Princeton University on December 2nd.
