Despite facing early elimination in the Malloy Cup of this weekend's CSA Individual Championships at Williams, 59th-seeded sophomore Alex Gross capitalized on his last chance this season to prove his talent. In his second appearance in the Championships, Gross made it the semifinals in the consolation bracket, defying the expectations of his opponents — and himself.
Making it to Sunday's semifinal matchup, Gross found himself with the opportunity to exact vengeance on Brown's No. 1, sophomore Adrian Leanza. Leanza's victory over Gross in a hard-fought four-game match in February was mainly attributed to his skill in cutting off shots early.
"I was making tight shots, but he returned them, and when I started hitting the tin and missing loose balls, he put me away," said Gross, who lost 10-8, 9-1, 10-8. "In the second game, he was on fire. Anything I hit was retrieved, and I burned out on my own errors. In the third, I pulled myself up and played really hard, cutting down on my errors. I wasn't going to lose because of my own mistakes. He got the lead, but I got in some nice shots and got the score to 8-all. He pulled out on top, 10-8, and ended up winning the consolation bracket, so it was kind of bittersweet."
In the quarterfinals, Gross faced Harvard freshman Will Ahmed, who proved to be his toughest competition of the weekend. After Gross took the first set, Ahmed rifled back, rallying in the following two games to claim the lead. With the help of his coaches and teammates, Gross regained his composure in the final two games to settle the score in his favor, winning 9-5, 6-9, 6-9, 9-4, 9-0.
"Playing and beating Harvard's Will Ahmed was really big for me," Gross said. "I knew he was really good, but because he is a freshman this year, I didn't know much about his style of play. So I came out and played my strengths: cutting off balls and keeping play deep."
But after finding himself down 2-1 after the third match, Gross knew he had to alter his game plan to put Ahmed away.
"I changed up the pace and began retrieving well," Gross said. "Capitalizing on some of his errors, I was able to pull out the win in the fourth match. When I forced it to a fifth, I don't know what happened, but he kind of shut down — I rallied seven straight points, and I was home free after that. I was playing unbelievable in this game; I was surprising myself. It was unreal: [Ahmed] had a whole crew of Harvard supporters there all expecting him to beat me; It's always nice to pull out a win over an Ivy kid."
"Against Ahmed, Alex played really well," junior Zach Bradley added. "Alex did a good job controlling the court, making his opponent chase down his shots and forcing him to make mistakes."
After falling in four matches at the hands of his first-round opponent, Williams sophomore Will Gruner, Gross looked to the consolation tournament for greater success. Gross put his early opponents on the chopping block, defeating his first opponent, Hobart senior Cale Forgues, in three straight games. Getting into the mindset of the championships, Gross found more resistance from his second-round foe from St. Lawrence, freshman Scott Phillips, who was advantaged by his height, successfully cutting off high shots early and controlling the T. But flanked by his family, coaches and teammates, Gross was able to finish off Phillips in four games by keeping a level head and his eye on the ball.
"St. Lawrence's Phillips was really tall — he had a presence on the court," Gross said. "I came out sluggish in the first game and was beaten badly. I came off the court and knew exactly what I had to do. I was hitting way too many tins, hitting way too many high shots that he picked off, and allowed him to volley too much. I came back out and executed well. It was advantageous to have [coach Doug Eng] and [assistant coach Kelsey Engman] and some of my teammates there for advice."
"[Sophomore Max Dalury] and I made the trip with Coach Eng to support Alex," Bradley said. "We know it's been a tough season for the team, but it was exciting to see Alex go deep into the tournament and show the rest of the squash teams what he's capable of as an individual player. It was made even better because Alex was able to advance one stage further than he did last year."
