CAMBRIDGE/BELMONT - Playing in a triple-header on the second day of the 2010-11 season, the Tufts men's squash team earned its first win of the year against Connecticut College while also losing to Bates and Navy.
In the third match of the day, played at Belmont Hill, #20 Tufts was able to pull out the first win of the season with a dramatic 5-4 cliffhanger against #26 Connecticut College. The match was also the first of the season to be played with the three-court system where the first matches on were 3, 6 and 9. At #3, junior Henry Miller (Philadelphia, PA) won easily, but at #9 freshman Ben Briggs (Sherborn, MA) lost quickly to make the team score 1-1.
Junior Will Salisbury (New York, NY) at #8 also lost in three to drop Tufts behind 2-1. However, freshman Tesfu Hailu (New York, NY) at #6 played smart, steady drives to pull out a dramatic win in five capped with a 13-11 fifth-game win. Senior Ben Rind (Rockville, MD) at #2 also won to put Tufts ahead 3-2. The Camels were able to tie it up as Asa Welty applied too much pressure for Tufts freshman Jeremy Ho (Reston, VA) at #7.
At #5, senior Andrew Kim (Wayland, MA) then put Tufts ahead with a dramatic come from behind win in five games as his hard-hitting style eventually forced errors from his opponent. Senior captain Alex Gross (Washington, DC) at #1 looked certain to win his second match of the day against Caleb Garza with his strong retrieving as he took a 2-0 lead in games against an opponent who gave him trouble last season. Garza was able to bounce back however, with steady play and deceptive shot-making to win in five to tie the match momentarily at 4-4. But Jumbo freshman Michael Abboud (Bronxville, NY) at #4 was already up two games in his match and confidently pulled out the straight-game and team win with strong deep drives.
In the first match of the day at MIT in Cambridge, Tufts faced their first NESCAC opponent of the season in Bates. The Bobcats are ranked #12 in the College Squash Association preseason poll. For both teams, there were plenty of line-up changes as both lost several players from last season. At #1 however, Gross faced off against former high school teammate Nick Echeverria and won a physical match in four games 11-6, 8-11, 11-5, 12-10. The Jumbos fought hard in the other matches and Abboud and Kim able to grab the first games but lost in four. At #7, Ho had the best battle of the day as his steady play and retrieving kept the match very even through three games before losing 12-10, 12-10, 8-11, 11-4.
At Belmont Hill, Tufts went up against the powerful Midshipmen. Navy, ranked 13th, cut off and volleyed with power and for the most part the Jumbos were not able to apply enough pressure to push close matches as #2 Rind was resting out with a minor injury. At #1 however, Gross went up 2-1 in games as he cut off Allan Lutz's cross-courts with volley drops and forced Lutz to scramble to front and back under pressure. Lutz's streaky shooting however, were able to turn the match around as he grabbed the last two games both at 11-7.
Tufts' busy weekend concludes on Sunday with matches against Stanford and Williams played at Harvard at 1:30 and 4:00 pm, respectively.
Bates Results
Navy Results
Connecticut College Results
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