AMHERST, Mass. – The Pioneer Valley Invitational began with a split for the Haverford College men's squash team, as the Fords took down No. 30 Wesleyan, 6-3 before falling to No. 23 Colby, 8-1 in the second match of the afternoon. Haverford is now 6-3 on the season following the split on the day on the campus of Amherst College.
#31 Haverford 6, #30 Wesleyan 3
Haverford took down Wesleyan, the second straight NESCAC foe the Fords have beaten after eclipsing Connecticut College on Tuesday evening. The Fords saw their most success in the middle of the ladder, taking wins at the second through sixth positions.
Davis Chase was locked in a five game battle at the second spot on the ladder with Yahya Ladiwala, outlasting his opponent 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-7. Peter Dudley swept past William Bienstock at the third spot (11-4, 15-13, 11-5) and Fitz Dougherty stormed back for a five game victory at the fourth spot. Dougherty fell behind 2-0 before rallying to defeat Josh Lane (6-11, 10-12, 11-5, 12-10, 13-11).
Andre Giglio beat Alex Dreyfus in four games (11-4, 9-11, 11-4, 11-4) at the fifth position and Zach Cole swept Jackson Rubinoff (11-9, 11-3, 11-5) at the sixth position. Alex Liu registered a four-game victory over Prem Bunsermvicha (11-7, 9-11, 11-2, 11-4) at the ninth spot on the ladder.
Haverford notched a win against Wesleyan for the first time in program history. The two squads faced off for the sixth time, dating back to the 1995 campaign.
#23 Colby 8, #31 Haverford 1
In the late afternoon match, the Fords were defeated by Colby College. Fitz Dougherty posted the lone win for Haverford, taking an 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 sweep over Alex Kurtin at the fourth spot on the ladder. Elsewhere, Thomas Kaye took Jason Brodo to extra points in the second game at the seventh spot on the ladder and Yash Singh earned a second game victory over Andrew Swapp at the eighth spot.
Keshav Kalani took the third game over Charlie Beauregard in the exhibition matchup.
The Fords will return to action on Saturday, facing off with No. 26 Hamilton at noon before concluding the weekend with a 4:00 p.m. match with No. 32 Stanford. Following the Pioneer Valley Invitational, Haverford will next be in action on February 3 as both Dickinson and Georgetown come to the GIAC Squash Courts.