CARLISLE, Pa. – The 22nd-ranked Tufts University men's squash team dropped a closely-contested match at #26 Dickinson College 5-4 on Saturday afternoon.
Six of the nine matches were determined in four games and another went to five games.
The Jumbos fell to a 3-4 record with the loss, their second straight. The Red Devils stopped a three-game losing streak while improving to 4-8 overall.
Tufts sophomore Will Dewire won the most competitive match of the day in the ninth spot. He led Dickinson's Benjamin Gemma 2-0 before Gemma won two straight to force a decisive fifth game. Dewire took the win with 11-2, 11-3, 9-11, 8-11, 11-6 scores.
Freshman Sanjeev Jeyabalan had a four-game win in the fourth spot for Tufts over Osuman Imoro. Jeyabalan lost the first game before rallying to win 5-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9. Jumbo junior co-captain Salik Awan emerged out of a 1-1 tie in the eighth match to also win in four 11-2, 7-11, 11-6, 11-5.
The other Jumbo victory was earned by freshman Vivaan Jaikishan at #7 where he took two competitive games before winning handily in the third (12-10, 11-8, 11-4).
Senior Abdelrahman Elsergany swept the top flight (11-5, 11-8, 11-6) over Jumbo freshman Kunal Valia, while Alex Wattles survived a four-set battle to win the second (11-9, 14-12, 10-12, 11-9) versus Raghav Kumar. Kobe Fleming helped put the Red Devils over the top with a four-set win in the fifth flight.
The Jumbos are off until hosting Williams College next Sunday (Jan. 26) at Harvard. Dickinson welcomes Virginia to campus tomorrow.
Portions of recap courtesy of Dickinson College
