POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Haverford College Men's Squash team (2-4, 1-1 LL) went one and one on the day at Vassar, taking defeat by No. 30 Connecticut College (3-2) by a 5-4 final before claiming their first Liberty League win of the season against the host Brewers (4-6, 1-2 LL) in a 6-3 decision.
#30 Connecticut College 5, #31 Haverford 4
The Camels' top five flights found victory, with Hudson Dunn taking down Noah Tunis 11-2, 11-5, 11-6 at flight one. Flight two saw a competitive duel, however Samuel Lovejoy was able to edge out three games over Aaryaman Jaising 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 to earn the win.
Henry Pelletier had quite a challenge in game three over Peter Lehv, but was able to prevail 14-12 in the close out frame. Pelletier won the flight 11-5, 11-6, 14-12 putting another point on the board for the Camels.
Flight four saw extra points in the opening game between Qianzhi Zhao and Ryan Mach, with the latter winning 12-10. Mach then took home the other two games defeating Zhao by a final score of 12-10, 11-8, 11-5. Noah Fish also earned a point for the Camels, defeating Benjamin Schiltz 11-8, 11-8, 11-2.
The sixth flight saw a true battle, after Daniel Braun dropped the opening game to Connecticut College's Alexander Lorenzo-Cruz. Braun was able to fight back, winning three games in a row to surpass Lorenzo-Cruz with a score of 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-2. Haverford's Arvin Krishnan was able to sweep Peter Russell in flight seven 11-6, 11-4, 11-9, with Krishnan just able to cling on to the third and final game. Francis Betkowski triumphed over Josiah Rondon, 11-5, 11-2, 11-0, giving the Scarlet and Black another point.
In the ninth flight, Matthew Sullivan made quick work of Anthony Vallardes, winning the flight 11-4, 11-2, 11-0, in just twelve minutes.
When all the chaos on the courts was settled, the Camels emerged as the victors in a narrow defeat of the Fords, 5-4.
#31 Haverford 6, #32 Vassar 3
Tunis kicked off the winning ways for the Scarlet and Black, tallying a sweep over Rithik Jalali 11-8, 11-6, 11-7 at the top flight. Jaising matched Tunis' efforts by claiming a sweep of his own, prevailing over Jay Vashisht 11-8, 11-7, 11-6.
Flight three saw the Brewers etch a point onto the scoreboard after Konstantinos Georgallides earned a three game sweep over Zhao, as Zhao once again went into an extra point game, eventually dropping the last game 12-10.
Georgallides won 11-5, 11-9, 12-10, in the encounter. Schiltz handed Haverford another point after a demanding four-game contest against Luke Chen, picking up the win 11-7, 11-5, 10-12, 11-6. In flight five, Braun grabbed another point for the Fords, defeating Razaan Lalji 11-8, 11-9, 11-4.
As the teams climbed down the ladder, the action only rose, as flights six and seven were the most grueling of the day. Betkowski and Patrick Looby traded games back and forth in the sixth flight, until the all-decisive fifth game saw the Haverford first-year rout Looby 11-2 to earn a crucial point for the Fords.
Betkowski won the difficult battle 11-6, 5-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-2. Up 2-1 in flight seven that saw two games already go to extra points, Sullivan put his foot on the pedal and cruised to a 11-7 fourth game victory, taking home the win.
Sullivan was the victor in a 3-11, 12-10, 12-14, 7-11 decision over Kyle Benson. After being down 1-0, Gabriel Lugo won three straight games over Zadoc Bond 10-12, 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 to dish out another point for the Brewers. Flight nine witnessed the quickest clash of the day, as Ali Nurkhaidarov swept Will Knauss 11-4, 11-7, 11-8 in just 20 minutes.
After all was said and done, the Fords earned six big individual match wins, taking the victory 6-3 over Vassar. The win marks Haverford's first Liberty League win in school history.
The two matches wrapped up the 2023 section of the men's squash schedule, as the Fords will be back in action January 20 of 2024, as they look to settle the score with Conn. College at Luce Field House in New London, Conn. The match is slated to begin at 11:30 a.m.