After a solid victory over the University of Rochester, the men's squash team suffered a tough loss on Monday, losing 9-0 to Harvard University, the third-ranked team in the country. However, the Jeffs remain above .500 with a 6-5 record and are ranked 11th in the national rankings.

On Jan. 31, the team hosted 23rd-ranked Rochester and came away with a solid victory. Amherst won the match 8-1, allowing Rochester to snatch only four game wins in the entire contest.

"I expected the team to have a dominating win over Rochester, which we did," said co-captain John Holodnak '03. "All the wins were solid straight down through the ladder."

In the Harvard match, the Jeffs played hard, but were overmatched by a highly talented squad, 9-0. Although Amherst was unable to claim a game victory in the contest, the team saw it as a positive way to prepare and train going into Little IIIs this weekend.

"We expected Harvard to be a really tough team, so we had nothing to lose in the match," said sophomore Mike Strong. "However, we wanted to play our best and test ourselves in order to prepare for our big match against Williams this weekend. Everyone played really hard today in preparation, especially Brian Lawrence ['05.]"

Holodnak agreed that the match was a positive experience despite the outcome. "They were a very strong team, ranked [in the] top three in the division. We ended up playing hard and gave a good showing, which sets the right tone for this week going into Williams and Wesleyan."

The Jeffs return to action in the Little IIIs match this weekend against Williams College and Wesleyan University at 11 a.m.