Last weekend, the men’s squash team notched an 8-1 win over Bates and a 5-4 victory over Middlebury to claim the Summers Cup and the C Division National Championship title.
During Saturday’s semifinal match-up against Bates, co-captain Will Means ’20, AJ Solecki ’22 and David Pincus ’20 were on first for the Ephs. Solecki continued his recent strong play and earned a 3-0 win to get the Ephs on the board. Means and Pincus both battled their way back into their respective matches after dropping their first games. Pincus added another point with a 3-1 win, while Means played a strong match but fell short, losing out 11-9 in the crucial fifth.
Determined to extend the Ephs’ lead, Wyatt Khosrowshahi ’21, co-captain Carl Shuck ’20 and Charles Merrill ’23 stepped in. This trio delivered a set of three 3-0 wins and sent the scoreline to 5-1, securing a match victory for the Ephs.
Jacob Bassil ’20, Udai Pal ’23 and co-captain Claude Smith ’20 rounded out the day’s play. All three Ephs pushed through to three more wins over the Bobcats, all by 3-1 scorelines. This sent the team safely into finals, where they faced rival Middlebury.
On Sunday, the final started with Khosrowshahi, Shuck and Merrill. Shuck and Merrill each took three game wins to give the Ephs a quick 2-0 lead. Khosrowshahi fought hard but found himself down 2-1. He continued to fight off two match points to seize the fourth game 14-12. He then pushed on to win the all-important fifth game 11-8, extending the Ephs’ lead to 3-0.
Next up were Bassil, Pal and Smith. Despite starting strong, both Bassil and Smith eventually conceded four game defeats, moving the overall match score to 3-2. Thankfully for the Ephs, Pal delivered a 3-0 win, moving the score to 4-2 and leaving a victory only one point away.
With the team one point from the finish line, Means, Solecki and Pincus took to the court. Solecki closed his match out first with a win and sealed the team victory.
“We got off to a good start in the first round today, which was huge,” Eph assistant coach Blair Dils commented. “I am proud of the seniors who fought hard in their last matches, but it was really amazing to see the underclassmen step up when things didn’t always go the seniors’ way.”
The win closes out the season for the team as a whole, but some players will likely travel to Philadelphia next weekend for the season-ending individual championships.
Wyatt Khosrowshahi ’21 is a member of the men’s squash team.
