POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The 29th-ranked Haverford College men's squash team (3-2) recorded a pair of decisive 7-2 victories at Vassar's Kenyon Hall on Saturday, taking down No. 32 Connecticut College and host No. 33 Vassar.
#29 Haverford 7, #32 Connecticut College 2
In the first match of the day with the Camels, Haverford split at the top two flights of action. Tyler Maguire put a tally in the Connecticut College column with his four-game win over Quinton Crawford (9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-2), but Noah Tunis dispatched Samuel Lovejoy at the top flight in a five-game classic. The first game went to Tunis by a 13-11 margin, and Tunis built a strong 2-0 lead before Lovejoy responded with a pair of wins. Tunis then reversed an 11-9 fourth-game loss with an 11-9 win in the decisive fifth.
At the third, Peter Lehv got past Henry Pelletier (11-9, 5-11, 11-7, 14-16, 11-9) in another five-gamer that captivated the crowd. Pelletier did well to force the fifth as Lehv had multiple moments where it seemed like he would close things out in four. However, when the battle went to that fifth game, it was Lehv prevailing to force a tally into the Haverford column.
Aaryaman Jaising continued his strong start to his rookie season with a sweep of Ryan Mach at the fourth flight, allowing just 12 total points in a straightforward sweep. Connecticut College got a tally back at the fifth flight in yet another five-gamer with Noah Fish climbing out of a 2-1 hole to record a win over Ben Schilitz.
Rookie Kai Schinaman took a sweep from Alex Lorenzo-Cruz (11-5, 11-0, 11-6) at the sixth flight John Collins was victorious in four over Peter Russell at sevens, (11-3, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7). Garret Fantini notched a sweep of Juan Hurtado at the eighth (11-3, 11-4, 11-9).
In yet another five-gamer at the ninth flight, Matt Sullivan put a tally on the Haverford side of the scoreboard as he reverse-swept Alexander Navarro, climbing back from the brink of defeat with 11-9, 11-9 and 11-4 wins in the final three games. In the exhibition match at 10s, Ali Nurkhaidarov was a big winner over Chris Meza, allowing just six total points in an 11-3, 11-3, 11-0 sweep.
#29 Haverford 7, #33 Vassar 2
In the late afternoon battle, Haverford took a victory by the same 7-2 scoreline as the early afternoon battle. Vassar did get a point at the top flight, with Rithik Jalali taking down Noah Tunis in five games. Tunis grabbed a 16-14 win in the first game, and took the second 11-9, but his Brewers' opponent stayed confidently in the game and eventually grabbed the victory in five.
Crawford responded to his early afternoon loss with a commanding 11-5, 11-4, 11-6 win at the second flight while Jaising again had a dominating performance, with a sweep of Razaan Lalji, allowing just seven points to the Brewers player at the third flight.
Schiltz was a five-game winner over Patrick Looby, turning around from a first-game loss to prevail in an 11-2 fifth game when it was all said and done at the fourth flight. Kai Schinaman was denied a sweep at the fifth, but prevailed in four over Luke Chen (11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8).
Collins was defeated in four at the sixth flight after opening up with a game victory (4-11, 11-5, 11-6, 12-10) and Fantini reversed that fate, responding with a four-game win of his own after dropping the first game to Kyle Benson. Fantini allowed just five total points in the final three games to seal the win. Sullivan grabbed an 11-4, 4-11, 13-11, 11-5 win at the eighth flight, while Nurkhaidarov stepped into the top nine for an 11-6, 11-4, 11-3 win.
Men's Squash will now break for the Thanksgiving holiday, returning to action on Saturday, December 3 with another tough test at No. 2 Penn. Action at the Penn Squash Center is slated for a 5 p.m. first serve.