Liberty League Championships Central
CANTON, N.Y. - The Haverford College men's squash team, seeded fifth in the Liberty League with a 5-10 record, engaged in two highly competitive matches on Saturday at the Liberty League Championships. The Fords fell to fourth-seeded Denison by a 6-3 margin in the early quarterfinal match before prevailing over sixth-seeded Vassar in a nail-biting 5-4 contest in the consolation bracket at the Robie Squash Center.
Quarterfinal: No. 4 seed Denison 6, No. 5 seed Haverford 3
In the morning matchup, the Fords and Big Red clashed in the third, sixth, and ninth flights, the first to take the courts. Haverford secured a victory from Garret Fantini at the ninth flight, as Fantini prevailed over Owen Mullaly in four games (11-1, 11-13, 11-1, 11-3). However, Denison led 2-1 after the first set of matches, with Charlie Fenwick defeating Peter Lehv in straight games and Chase Lenfest victorious over Arvin Krishnan.
At the top flight, Juan Hernandez dispatched Noah Tunis in straight games (11-3, 11-5, 11-4), while Ben Schiltz contributed another point to Haverford's ledger, defeating Lucas Piller in four games. Jackson Bragman swept past Francis Betkowski at the seventh flight.
In the final round, Daniel Braun secured a hard-fought win over Rayan Dar, despite dropping the third game. Braun delivered consecutive 11-6 and 11-5 victories before Dar responded with a 14-12 triumph. Undaunted, Braun gave Haverford its third tally with an 11-9 win. Ross Falcon secured a fifth-flight victory over Qianzhi Zhao, and Aaryaman Jaising was defeated in four by Tarun Mammen after grabbing a first-game victory (6-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-7).
Consolation: No. 5 seed Haverford 5, No. 6 seed Vassar 4
In the afternoon contest, the Fords faced Vassar for the third time this season and secured another victory, this time by the thinnest of margins.
Haverford led 2-1 after the first round of matches, with Fantini logging another win over Gabriel Lugo at the ninth flight in an 11-9, 11-9, 11-7 sweep. Krishnan pulled ahead of Razaan Lalji after dropping the second game, using relatively straightforward 11-4 and 11-5 decisions in the final two games (11-5, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5). Lehv was then denied by Konstantinos Georgallides at the third flight.
Haverford secured its third win of the afternoon from Betkowski at the seventh flight, as he dispatched Patrick Looby (11-5, 11-6, 11-4), while Vassar pulled within one as Luke Chen got the better of Schiltz in four games at the fourth (11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 11-4).
Tunis took the first two games from Rithiki Jalali at the top flight, prevailing by 11-6 and 11-5 finals, but Jalali was able to stay in the contest with a 12-10 victory in the third game. He then rattled off 11-9 and 11-6 wins, tying the contest 3-3.
In the final round of matches, Braun fended off a hefty challenge from Kyle Benson for a crucial tally for the Fords. He notched 11-9 wins in each of the first two games at the eighth flight, but Benson rallied to tie things heading into the decisive fifth. Braun calmly delivered an 11-6 win to put Haverford on the brink of a clinch.
Jarid Haslinger dispatched Zhao in straight games (11-8, 11-8, 11-3) to set the stage for Jaising at the second flight, ready to deliver a clinching win. Despite the drama throughout the match, Jaising was able to take the victory with relative ease, allowing just 15 points in an 11-5, 11-7, 11-3 sweep of Jay Vashisht to nail down the victory.
Haverford will now wrap up its stint at the Liberty League Championships with a consolation bracket matchup against seventh-seeded Bard on Sunday morning. The match will start at 8:30 a.m., and live broadcasts of each court and results are available via the Liberty League Championships Central page.