The men's squash team had a busy Interterm, playing six matches in just over a week. The saga began Jan. 15, when the Jeffs, ranked 14th in the nation, took on the fourth-ranked University of Pennsylvania. All of the players fell in just three games to their Quaker foes, save senior co-captain Brian Lawrence, who was able to clinch the opening game, 9-4, before falling in the closing three. "We knew they were a very good team, and their ranking reflected that. That being said, we still believed we could have a competitive match against them not necessarily in matches literally won, but in the competitiveness of the actual matches," said co-captain Lawrence. "They were clearly too strong for us that day, but we were not particularly disappointed with the effort or the result of the match."

The Jeffs were able to rebound quickly from their first loss of the season, treating the University of Washington to a sweep, with sophomore Peter Hatfield winning all three sets 9-0 and no Jeff dropping a set; however this was to be the best result the team would enjoy in any match during Interterm.

The Jeffs soon ran into more trouble as they faced the 13th-ranked Bears of Brown University. The Jeffs were able to snatch three wins led by Lawrence, sophomore Stu Landesberg and rookie Mark Rapisarda, but these efforts proved to be inadequate in the face of strong opposition from the Bears.

Unfortunately this seemed to be the theme of the men's Interterm as they continued a disappointing streak.

In the following match against eighth-ranked Dartmouth University, the team was unable to rise to the occasion, losing 7-2. Once again Lawrence was able to pull through with a victory, this time joined by junior Nick Haslett. Lawrence's winning streak was interrupted by a sound defeat at the hands of sixth-ranked Cornell University, 9-0, followed by a close match against Hobart College.

"Our team seems to lack mental toughness on the court when we play opponents slightly better than us, as was the case with most of the Ivy league that we played against," said sophomore Auloke Mathur. "Against Hobart, it was just an unfortunate loss. We were up 4-1 against them after the first five matches had been played, but just couldn't get our act together and win the clincher causing us to succumb to defeat, 5-4."

Mathur was able to pull off a decisive victory after losing the first game to his Hobart opponent. Haslett and Lawrence both had strong victories, along with Rapisarda, who has come through this season with personal victories and shows great promise. The Jeffs left Interterm with a 3-5 record, but Mathur says that in the midst of the losses there is a silver lining. "Lawrence has had a fantastic season so far, winning some tough matches," Mathur pointed out. "He's one player who's gone into every match thinking he can win. He is the example the rest of the team has to follow if we are to win any crucial matches."

The team's eyes are now set on its remaining contests. With important matches coming up against archrival Williams College and highly ranked Princeton University, the past is just that, and the Amherst men will look to improve their record. The Jeffs will swing back into action today at MIT in a 4 p.m. match. It will be their fourth consecutive contest away from the friendly confines of Amherst's Davenport Courts.