Two weeks into the season, the men's squash team already has amassed more wins than all of last season combined. Playing five matches in a 24-hour period two weekends ago, Nov. 17 and 18, the team emerged with a 4-1 record, losing only to Hobart College. The four victories will guarantee the team a better ranking in the end-of-season National Intercollegiate Squash and Racquets Association (NISRA) poll than last year's 24th-ranked squad.
Nov. 18, the Jumbos traveled almost five hours to Hobart, where they played three matches, against Hobart, Stanford, and Co1gate. The squad first met Colgate, and coach Doug Eng expected a 9-0 win, meaning that each of the top nine players would win his match. To this end, Eng did not send out all of his top players to compete. However, much to the surprise of the squad, Colgate put up a strong fight, winning four of the nine matches, but that did not stop the Jumbos from coming through with a 5-4 win.
"Colgate was supposed to be a warm-up," senior co-captain Bennett Kolasinski said. "We played a weaker team, expecting to destroy them, but we didn't have as easy a time as we hoped for."
A lot of the surprises came in the top of the roster, where sophomore Chris Choi, in the number one spot, senior Dylan McPhetres, playing number three, and Kolasinski, playing four, lost to their opponents. Each individual match is played in a "best of five" game format, where the first player to reach 15 points wins. Choi lost 0-3, McPhetres 2-3, and Kolasinski 1-3.
Choi was coming off an injury to his hamstring, which he suffered earlier in the week, so he had to ease up in preparation for the Jumbos' next two matches, coming later in the day. The real strength was in the bottom of the roster, where freshmen Arman Kamenov and Jordan Kolasinski, rookie sophomore Nathan Anderson, and junior Shayan Haque dominated their matches, giving up only one game among the four of them.
Overall, the 5-4 win was "too close for comfort," Bennett Kolasinski commented.
"We didn't put our best foot forward," Eng said. "Colgate had vastly improved, with the arrival of several strong freshmen, causing us to work harder than we had anticipated."
Following Colgate, the team faced Hobart, suffering a 2-7 loss. Hobart was the team to beat over the weekend, but the Jumbos could not muster up enough talent to come through.
"Playing Hobart early in the season was like climbing Mount Everest before taking on another mountain," coach Eng said.
"They're tough," Kolasinski agreed. "However, the 7-2 score doesn't reflect how close it really was. We made them work hard. On another day, the results could have been different."
Noteworthy performances came from junior Neil Pallaver and Anderson, who both lost 2-3 in close matches.
"Nathan had an impressive showing," Eng said.
This time a year ago, Anderson had not yet picked up a squash racquet. Now he is proving to be the rookie to keep an eye on this season.
"Nathan is making ridiculous plays and hitting way too well for someone who has only been playing for a year - definitely someone to watch," Kolasinski said.
Choi concurred, saying, "He's got good touch, he'll improve a lot with experience. He lost in five games, but he played a tough match."
The two victories against Hobart came from Shayan Haque and junior co-captain Colin O'Higgins, who both won 3-2.
Concluding the weekend was a match against Stanford, which the Jumbos won 7-2.
"The guys were a little tired," coach Eng said of the weekend's fifth match, "But we're an extremely fit team, the fittest we've been in a long time."
However, the team battled the fatigue and was able to finish with a victory.
Choi, the most heralded of the Jumbos, played to his reputation, coming back from a two game deficit to win his match 3-2.
"I am very happy with the results. I was moving well and was able to stay focused despite my injury," Choi said.
Throughout the rest of the roster, Pallaver, O'Higgins, Kolasinski, Anderson, and Haque took care of business, all going 3-0, and Kamenov won 3-1.
On the previous day, the squad had played against Bard and Vassar, coming away with two victories. Bard did not prove to be much competition, as the team dominated 9-0.
"They're a less-talented team," Kolasinski and Eng commented.
The team's next victim was Vassar. The results were somewhat unexpected, given Vasssar's 6-0 record against the Jumbos over the last six seasons.
"We haven't beaten them for years," Kolasinski said. "They weren't as strong as they have been."
"We proved ourselves, and this was a very rewarding win," Eng said.
With the positive results from the first two weeks, coach Eng is looking to break into the top 20 for the final NISRA rankings.
"This goal, while not impossible, will be a lot of work," Choi commented. "We're pushing ourselves, and we should have a good season."
The squad will continue its season against Trinity College today at the Harvard courts, and will head to Brown on Sunday, Dec. 3rd.
