Decisive fifth games prove unkind to Dartmouth squash
By Caroline Buck, The Dartmouth Staff
Published on Wednesday, February 1, 2012
The men’s squash team could not overcome a pair of five-game losses in its 6-3 loss to the University of Rochester on Sunday.
The No. 7 Dartmouth men’s squash team fell to No. 4 University of Rochester, 6-3, on Sunday at the Berry Sports Center. Despite the loss, head coach Hansi Wiens still found reason to be optimistic and said that it was a good day overall for the team.
“Everyone played really well against Rochester,” Wiens said. “I am really happy with the way things are going at the moment.”
The Big Green (6-4, 1-2 Ivy) was led by its top two players on Sunday, as Chris Hanson ’13 at the No. 1 spot and captain Nick Sisodia ’12 at the No. 2 spot both notched wins in their matches. Hanson defeated Rochester junior Andres Duany in a five-game thriller, splitting the first four games before prevailing 11-9 in the decisive fifth game. Sisodia had less trouble at No. 2, defeating Yellow Jackets senior Benjamin Fischer in four games.
“Chris outlasted and out-strategized [Duany],” Sisodia said. “I ended up playing pretty well and won 3-1.”
Stephen Wetherill ’12 had the only other Big Green victory of the day at the No. 6 slot, taking down junior Oscar Lopez in the minimum three games.
Sisodia said the Big Green was expecting tough matches but was hoping to play for an upset against a top-ranked team like Rochester (7-4, 4-0 Liberty).
“We knew it would be a battle,” Sisodia said. “[After Wetherill’s win], we knew if we won a match or two we could come close to winning.”
The close battles at the No. 7 and No. 8 positions were the difference makers in the match. Both matches went to five games and each were decided by just two points. But in the end, victories by Karm Kumar over Fletcher Pease ’14 and Mohamed Abdel Maksoud over Alex Kurth ’13 proved decisive, allowing Rochester to pull away and win by a 6-3 margin overall.
Wiens said the men’s team had a few chances to win games at the beginning and is getting closer to winning matches against teams like Rochester.
“I am happy about the result on Sunday — it’s a good tone for the last bit of the season,” Sisodia said. “I’m excited to finish out my last season with the Big Green. I’ll miss it.”
The last home matches of the season will take place on Feb. 10 as the men take on No. 2 Yale University and No. 13 Middlebury College. Shortly after that, the men will ideally head to the College Squash Association Championships Feb. 17-18 in Princeton, N.J.
“The guys are fit and focused,” Sisodia said. “We are ready for a run at nationals.”
Wiens echoed Sisodia’s positive outlook for the remainder of the season and noted that having the men’s team ranked in the top eight in the country means anything can happen.
“I am sure we can upset one team,” Wiens said. “We are getting closer to being one of the top teams in the country.”
The Ivy League is the most competitive conference for squash in the nation, boasting five of the top seven schools in the most recent national rankings. Rochester, Trinity College and Franklin & Marshall College are the only schools not in the Ivy League likely to be in the top ten nationally by season’s end, according to Sisodia and Wiens.
“The team is looking good,” Sisodia said. “We had a bit of a scare against Williams College — barely squeaked it out. We are hoping to be a little more convincing than that.”
Dartmouth will hit the road to take on Cornell University this Saturday in Ithaca, N.Y., before travelling to New York to tackle Columbia University on Sunday.