Mathur '07 takes three matches at CSAs
By Sarah Jin, Staff Writer
The men's squash team ended its season on a triumphant note, leaving the Howe Cup satisfied with their performance and a respectable ranking of 11th in the nation. The Jeffs downed the Naval Academy, then fell to Williams College but rebounded to best Hobart College-a team that had beaten the Jeffs previously in a 4-5 heartbreaker. This impressive showing fulfilled the expectations the Jeffs had held throughout the season. This weekend, the Jeffs sent three of their best to represent Amherst in the CSA Individual Championships: seniors Michael Strong and Gifford Sommerkamp and sophomore Auloke Mathur.

All three players were placed in the Men's "B" division, or the Molloy Division. Strong, the Jeffs' number-one player, faced off against Navy's number-three player, Jeff Sawim. Sommerkamp had played Midshipman Sawim just a week before and triumphed after four games. Strong had more trouble, and lost his first-round match, 9-5, 9-6, 9-7. Sommerkamp also faced a Midshipman opponent in his first round, number-two Gavin Morrison-who defeated Sommerkamp, 9-5, 9-5, 9-1. "The Navy guys were motivated in their matches against us after we beat them at Harvard last weekend," said Sommerkamp. "I wish I could play Gavin again; it was a dissapointing way to start the weekend, but I settled down and played well afterwards." Mathur fell to Dan McElvaine from St. Lawrence University in the first round, 9-0, 9-0, 9-2.

Swept in the first round, Sommerkamp and Mathur moved on to the consolation bracket. Mathur easily defeated his first opponent, Max Laverty of Denison University, 9-0, 9-1, 9-5. Mathur went on to win another unchallenging match against a Denison foe, Ben Hoefs, 9-0, 9-6, 9-4. Sommerkamp won a well-earned victory against Colby College's number-two Mule, Trevor McWilliams, 9-3, 10-8, 9-7. Sommerkamp then won against Nik Trika of Columbia University, 9-7, 9-2, 9-2. Having played well in the consolation bracket, Mathur and Sommerkamp met in the semifinals, where they played their longest match of the tournament. Mathur finally prevailed after a shaky start, beating his teammate, 9-8, 4-9, 9-4, 9-0. The loss ended the tournament and Amherst squash career of senior Sommerkamp.

Mathur went on to the consolation finals, where he faced Ankur Gupta, also of Denison. Mathur ended his tournament play here, but he has a lot to look forward to next season. Mathur seems the likely candidate to step into the leadership void left by the three departing seniors and can look forward to improving his standing next winter.

Issue 20, Submitted 2005-03-08 23:13:03