HARTFORD, CT – Today the Williams Men's squash team lost in a close 5-4 battle against 10
th in the Nation Dartmout and the number two seed at Nationals. Coming off of their win over Chatham in the first round of Nationals, they were looking to have another upset win in the semi-finals. It was a hard-fought match that came down to a couple of points going either way, and ultimately a couple errors from Williams and well-placed drop shots from Dartmouth made the difference.
Starting off the first round on the three court system for the Ephs was
Alex Akbari, who lost in three, not without putting up a good fight in the second game, losing 12-10 in the tiebreak.
Jack Lee started slow and lost the first game 11-6, but he rethought his tactics and won the next three games solidly. Co-Captain
Udai Pal had one of his best performances of the season, coming back from a 2-0 game deficit to win the next three games, leaving the match score 2-1 for Williams going into the second round.
Starting off the second round for Williams was
Cameron Darnell, who dominated the court in the first game, winning it solidly 11-7. However, he could not keep the momentum up and he lost the match 3-1. Next up was
Asher Leavy, who had a brutal five game match against his opponent. After going down 2-0, he regrouped and won the next two games 11-9, 11-9, but unfortunately a couple of key points not going his way lost him the game and the match 11-7. And last on in the second round was Co-Captain Will Evans, who like his Co-Captain Udai came back from a 2-0 deficit to win in five. After dropping the first 11-6, 11-5, he rethought his tactics and won the third strongly 11-2. He then won a close fourth 12-10 before closing it out with an 11-5 win in the fifth game.
And starting off the third and final round for the Ephs was
John Nicholson, who used every shot in his arsenal to win the first game, but could not maintain the pressure and lost in four.
Pierce Henderson won the first game of his match 11-7, but then dropped the second game 11-7. However, with some perfectly hit drop shots and well time boasts he took the next two games 11-9, 11-6 to win his match. And last on court for the Ephs was
Andrew Minnis, who dropped the first game 11-6, but played some incredible squash in the second game and won that one 11-9. However, he could not keep the momentum going, and ultimately the third 11-5 and the fourth 12-10, leaving the final match score 5-4 in Dartmouth's favor.
It was a hard fought battle and a tough result for the Ephs, but they keep their eyes forward to their next match tomorrow where they are eager to for the chance to finish 11
th in the Nation.
