The men's squash team fell victim to Brown University this past Sunday, losing 9-0 in Providence. The loss dropped Tufts' overall record to 4-3. Brown is ranked ninth in the National Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Association (NISRA) poll.
"Brown is a very solid team," coach Doug Eng said. "We wanted to see how many points we could get off of them."
"They don't have super-style or super-skills, but they're very good," junior Shayan Haque said.
Brown was coming off an emotional 5-4 loss to the University of Pennsylvania, and the Jumbos hoped to capture a few games by capitalizing on their opponents lethargy.
"Coach Eng told us to go after them in the first game," Haque said. "After their loss to U. Penn, we were going to really try to push them."
The Jumbos tried to attack early on but their efforts fell short, and the team was swept 9-0. Despite losing their matches 3-1, freshmen Jordan Kolasinski and Arman Kamenov each stole a game from their high-powered opponents. Kolasinksi played in the number nine spot, while Kamenov held the number four position.
"Jordan was playing really well, and he was able to push his match to four games," Haque said. "And Arman was able strike early, winning the first game."
A week earlier, Kolasinski said that he was playing the best squash of his career, but that there was also room for improvement. "These matches are a good learning experience," Kolasinski said. "We're just freshmen. We'll get there, it'll come."
Kamenov also proved himself on the court, taking his opponent to four games in a losing effort (15-12, 2-15, 6-15, and 11-15).
Another strong performance came from sophomore rookie Nathan Anderson, a newcomer to the team, who has also received praise from his teammates.
"I refereed Nathan's match, and he played some very good games," Haque said. "His opponent {David Pun] is a very good player, and Nathan was really pushing him."
Anderson was unable push Pun far enough, however, and ended up on the losing end of a sweep (15-17, 12-15, 9-15).
"I had a lot of good opportunities that I didn't capitalize on," Anderson said. "It was 10-3 in the first game, but I was unable to hold him."
As for the rest of the roster, seniors Dylan McPhetres and co-captain Bennett Kolasinski both fell 0-3, as did juniors Neil Pallaver, co-captain Colin O'Higgins Haque, and sophomore Chris Choi. O'Higgins put up a valiant effort, stripping his opponent of 37 points in the three games.
"Overall, this match really showed the depth of the team," Eng said. "The top needs to be more competitive, but there is a lot of strength in the bottom."
The defeat comes after a loss suffered at the hands of Trinity College on the Harvard courts last Tuesday. As the top ranked team in the NISRA poll, Trinity has won the last two NISRA tournaments and boasts a 38-match winning streak.
"Trinity can be seen as the most dominant team in collegiate sports," Eng said. "It's like putting a decent NFL team against a college team. The junior ranked number three in the nation did not make the team. They are more all-world than NESCAC. Five or six of the players have the talent to turn professional."
Before taking on Tufts, Trinity had already registered sweeps against MIT, and Franklin and Marshall College. Well aware of Trinity's merits, the Jumbos went to Harvard anticipating a defeat, but hoping to play their best.
"We went there with a frame of mind that we would play to potential," Haque said. "We did that. It's good to play against them because they're so good. We had fun."
Eng was equally proud of his team's performance. "I wanted each player to do better than MIT's players did," Eng said. "Their best competitor was able to win 18 points in his match. About half of our team did that."
MIT is ranked 16th in the NISRA poll and beat the Jumbos 9-0 last season. Eng's squad will take on the Engineers next semester.
"With some of the harder matches of the season out of the way, we can now try our best to amass some victories," Anderson said.
The Jumbos will battle Amherst on Thursday, Dec. 7, at Amherst, and later clash with Bowdoin in Cousens Gym on Friday, Dec. 8.
"The match to look forward to in the near future is Bowdoin, but Amherst should be really good too," Haque said. "All the best squash teams are in the Northeast, so we have to play them. It's always good though, and we gain experience every single year."
