PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The No. 31 Haverford College men's squash team (0-3) dropped a hard fought battle to Dickinson (1-2) on the second day of the Pennsylvania State Championships on Sunday at the Penn Squash Center.
The Penn State Championships, or Penn Cup, is an annual tournament style event contested between every varsity squash program in the state of Pennsylvania, including a pair of perennial Division I powerhouses in Philadelphia's Penn and Drexel along with upstart Chatham out of Pittsburgh. Centennial Conference foes Franklin & Marshall and Dickinson round out the annual field.
The first round of matches saw a few entertaining clashes, as the second, fifth and eighth flights took place to begin things. In flight two, after falling 11-4 in the first game, Qianzhi Zhao had a one point lead in game two, before talling 11-7. Dickinson's Omar Ali won game three 11-3 to sweep the flight. Despite great efforts from Zadoc Bond, Dickinson's Cormac Sulllivan took home the sweep at the eighth flight, 11-6, 11-7, 11-4 to give the Red Devils their second point of the day.
However, all eyes were set on flight five, as Haverford's Daniel Braun and Dickinson's Samuel Knipp tangled in a five-game thriller. After dropping the first game 11-2, Braun took a three point lead in game two by a score of 8-5. Knipp came battling back and tied the contest at eight a piece, before Braun rattled off three more points to win the second game 11-8. The first-year from Chicago, Ill. continued the momentum and took game three by a score of 11-7, taking a 2-1 lead in the flight. Knipp came roaring back in game four winning 11-4, before winning game five 11-8 to give the Red Devils a 3-0 lead.
The second round of matches saw Dickinson quickly grab two more points, as a Joe Smythe sweep over Noah Tunis ( 13-11, 11-4, 11-5) in flight one, and a Kobe Fleming sweep over Ben Schiltz (11-4, 11-4, 11-5) in flight four gave the Red Devils a commanding 5-0 lead to clinch the match victory.
Just like the first round, the second round saw an exciting five-game match between James Kiracofe of Dickinson and Matt Sullivan of the Fords in flight seven. Kiracofe took game one 11-5, before Sullivan answered by winning game two 11-6. The sophomore then kept his foot on the pedal, and won game three 13-11. Kiracofe came climbing back taking game four 11-5, setting up an all important game five. Both players traded points in a heavily contested battle, and the score knotted at 10-10. Kiracofe tallied two consecutive points and won the final game 12-10 to give Dickinson point number six.
The third round of matches started off with another five set tango between Mark Naguib and Aaryaman Jaising in flight three. Naguib got off to a hot start winning game one 11-7. Jaising took the fight to Naguib by winning both games two and three by a score of 11-8. Naguib made a statement in game four, winning 11-3 to set up a decisive game five. In game five it was Naguib who was the victor winning 11-5, and giving the Red Devils a 7-0 lead.
Flight six saw the most competitive battle of the day, as Dickinson's Jack Corkum squared off with the Scarlet and Black's Francis Betkowski. The first two games were barnburners, as Corkrum managed to earn two straight points to win game one 12-10, while Betkowski gained two straight points in another ten-point tie to win game two 12-10. Despite a valiant effort from Corkrum, Betkowski was able to hold off his opponent to claim an 11-9 victory in game three, to take a one-point lead. Game four saw all the momentum ride with Betkowski, as the first-year won the all-important game 11-8. winning the flight and putting a Haverford point on the scoreboard.
To wrap up the contest, Adian Donnan of the Red Devils swept the Fords' Ali Nurkhaidarov 11-8, 12-10, 11-7, to win flight nine, and hand Dickinson their ninth point of the match.
Up next for the Fords, is a match-up with No. 21 St. Lawrence in the friendly confines of the GIAC Squash Courts slated for a 12 p.m. start on Saturday. The match will serve as the annual staff/faculty appreciation match, as players will honor faculty and staff from around the Haverford campus.