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| Sophomore Dillon O'Shea won a five game thriller for the Jumbos today. |
CAMBRIDGE - Despite several competitive matches and a hard fought win in the eighth position, the Tufts University men's squash team fell 8-1 to top seed Williams College in the opening rounds of the 2020 College Squash Association (CSA) Team Championships on Friday evening.
The Jumbos enter the Summers Cup as the eighth seed and a #24 national ranking. After today's loss they fall to 7-12 on the season, but play for an opportunity to finish as high as fifth in the Summers Cup and 21st in the national rankings. Williams College improves to 15-9 on the season as is ranked 17th in the latest national polls.
In the eight slot Sophomore Dillon O'Shea was able to hand Claude Smith a loss in an excited five game battle. O'Shea took the first game in a close fight of 12-10 but Smith answered right back to claim the second set 11-3. Going back and forth the match would be extended into five games as O'Shea took game three 11-9 and Smith won game four 11-8. Finally, O'Shea would earn the lone point for the Jumbos after winning the fifth and final game 11-7.
Other competitive matches extending into extra games would happen in the first slot where freshman Kunal Valia was defeated by Jacob Bassil in four games (11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8) and at #5 when Carl Shuck handed freshman Vivaan Jaikishan a loss with scores of 8-11, 11-1, 11-3, 12-10. Unfortunately, all other matches of the evening would go to the Ephs in three sets. Senior Raghav Kumar in the second position and freshman Sanjeev Jeyabalan in the third position both scored 17 points in their three game losses. At #4 Sophomore Konrad LaDow posted scores of 11-7, 11-9, 11-3, sophomore Marco Rodriguez was defeated 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 in the sixth slot, and sophomore Will Dewire fell in the seventh slot with scores of 11-4,11-6,11-8. Rounding out the Jumbos line-up in the ninth position, junior Salik Awan was handed a three set loss by Charles Merrill.
Tufts will face another NESCAC opponent and fifth-seeded Colby College in the consolation rounds tomorrow (Feb 29) at 7:00pm. After today's win, Williams College will move onto the Summers Cup Semi-Finals where they will face fourth-seeded Bates College at 7:00pm on Saturday. Both matches will be hosted at Harvard University.
