Going 0-3 on the weekend, the men’s squash team had a disappointing turnout in the College Squash Association (CSA) Championships at Harvard University. The Jeffs competed in the Hoehn (B) Division in the three-day tournament. The University of Western Ontario defeated Amherst 8-1 on Friday, and the Jeffs lost to the United States Naval Academy Midshipmen 6-3 the next day. On the final day of the tournament, the Jeffs dropped a 7-2 loss to the St. Lawrence University Saints.
Currently No. 16 in the CSA rankings, the Jeffs had to face No. 9 University of Western Ontario in the first round of the championships. Senior co-captain Jerome Giovinazzo was the lone Jeff to win a match against a Mustang. The savvy squash skills of the Mustangs simply could not be overcome. Steve Severson ’12, co-captain Ben Bishop ’09 and Brad Corbin ’09 all made comebacks in the second game of their individual matches but could not follow through for victories. Tom Rapisarda ’11 also managed to turn around and win the third game at the No. 7 spot for the Jeffs but could not stop his opponent’s winning momentum.
Amherst was edged out by 13th-ranked Navy on Saturday. Bishop battled his way through a four-game match to win a point for Amherst as the No. 4 player. Likewise, Kevin Cecala ’11 took out Justin Lansen of the Midshipmen in four games. Both Rapisarda and Corbin played grueling five-game individual matches. The two Jeffs started out with a two-game lead but eventually fell to their opponents in the next three games. Despite several competitive matches, the Navy claimed a solid 6-3 win over the Amherst squad.
On Sunday, the Jeffs faced the St. Lawrence Saints for the second time this season. In the last meeting of the Jeffs and Saints in early January, Amherst was able to come away with a 3-6 loss. The toll of back-to-back matches for the tournament, however, inflated the Jeffs’ margin of loss to 2-7. Although closely matched with the 15th-ranked Saints, the Jeffs were not able to pull off an upset on the last day of the championships.
Recently, the Jeffs have seen a string of losses since blanking Wesleyan University at the Little Three Championships. The team’s overall record for the season is 6-13, but the CSA Individual Championships this weekend will offer individual players on the Amherst squad one last chance to perform up to their standards. The men’s squash team returns, hoping for some smashing victories, on Friday, Feb. 27 at Williams College.