HAVERFORD, Pa. - The No. 31 Haverford College men's squash team (9-5) picked up a pair of victories on Saturday at the GIAC Squash Courts, dispatching No. 41 Denison by a 6-3 final before taking down No. 39 Bucknell, 9-0. Prior to the Bucknell match, Haverford honored the contributions and impact of senior co-captain Tate Miller in a short ceremony.
Haverford 6, Denison 3
In the morning match, Haverford was seemingly challenged by the barnstorming Big Red at every turn. The hungry side shook off its long trek from Ohio to compete valiantly with the host Fords to begin the slate.
Haverford picked up victories at the top flight as well as the ninth position as Davis Chase and Aaron Witkin both saw their opponents bow out due to illness. Despite the disadvantage created by the retirements, Denison took hard-earned victories at the second and third flights, with Abdallah Bekhiet and Ibrahim Bekhiet outlasting Quinton Crawford (12-10, 11-5, 5-11, 11-8) and Fitz Dougherty (11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6), respectively. Miller had the most straightforward match of the morning for Haverford, sweeping past Henry Rosenberg (11-9, 11-6, 11-3) at the fourth flight. Mario Reifschneider swept John Collins at the fifth flight for Denison's third tally of the day (11-8, 11-8, 11-6).
The sixth, seventh, and eighth positions were all fights to the finish, with Alden Weinberg trading wins with Michael Ferrick before prevailing in five games at the sixth. Ferrick grabbed the first and third, with Weinberg taking the second, fourth, and fifth games to close out the Denison player. At the seventh, Nathan Wang took the first and third games, with Graham Poole winning the second and fourth. Wang proved to be too much in the decisive fifth game, cruising to an 11-4 decision. Khalil Walker got out to a hot start against Reece Quigley at the eighth position, winning 11-6 and 11-4 before Quigley charged back with a pair of wins to send things to a deciding game. Walker looked poised in that fifth and final frame, taking an 11-8 victory for a much-needed tally in the Haverford column.
The Fords improve to 3-1 all-time against Denison. The two sides revived their series last season after previously meeting at Dickinson in 2017.
Haverford 9, Bucknell 0
In the late afternoon match, Haverford looked to be in control against the Bison of Bucknell, taking sweeps at all but the top flight en-route to a convincing victory.
Chase lost his opening game to a formidable challenger in Delancey McFadden, but stormed back with 11-3, 11-6, and 11-4 victories at the top flight. Crawford swept past Riggs Johnson (11-4, 11-3, 11-8) at the second, and Dougherty had little trouble in dispatching Kyle Ferguson at the third (11-2, 11-3, 11-8). Miller concluded his final home match with a sweep, allowing just 10 total points to Bryan Yekelchik (11-5, 11-4, 11-1) at the fourth flight. Collins also eclipsed Mark Khalil at the fifth (11-0, 11-2, 11-3), surrendering just five total points.
Weinberg looked strong in his sweep at the sixth flight, denying Drew Hopkins (11-4, 11-2, 11-3), and Wang made quick work of Will Hennig (11-9, 11-4, 11-7). Walker allowed just one total point in a very impressive showing at the ninth flight, imposing his will in a 11-0, 11-1, 11-0 triumph. Haverford picked up the win by default at No. 9, as Bucknell was left with only eight healthy players.
Haverford improved to 4-4 all-time against Bucknell, with four straight victories in the series. Miller passed former teammates Ryan Dukarm '19 and Zach Cole '18 on Haverford's all-time win list, etching his 39th and 40th career victories on Saturday. Miller will take aim at another pair of former teammates, as Yash Singh '19 (47) and assistant coach Peter Dudley '18 (46) sit at the top of the all-time wins leaderboard.
Haverford returns to action next Saturday in the Centennial Conference Round Robin at Dickinson. The Fords will take on the host No. 24 Red Devils (11:30 a.m.) and No. 56 Johns Hopkins (4:30 p.m.) to wrap up the regular season in Carlisle.