CAMBRIDGE – The 21st-ranked Colby College men's squash team defeated #24 Tufts University 5-4 in a close consolation match of the Summers Cup at the College Squash Association Championships on Saturday. The match was played at Harvard University.
The Jumbos (7-13) will face Amherst College for seventh-place in the Summers Cup and the #23 national ranking on Sunday at 2:30 pm at MIT. The Mammoths lost their consolation match to Bowdoin today 5-4. Colby (11-9) and Bowdoin play for fifth place in the Summers Cup and the #21 national ranking on Sunday at Tufts starting at 1:30 pm.
Tufts darted out to a 3-0 lead on Colby with a pair of five-game wins and a four-game victory. Tufts freshman Sanjeev Jeyabalan won a tense five-game match versus Chase Holding 10-12, 11-3, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7 in the third spot. The sixth match also went five, with Jumbo sophomore Marco Rodriguez coming back from a 2-1 deficit to win 9-11, 11-3, 6-11, 11-2, 11-9. At #7, Jumbo sophomore Dillon O'Shea emerged out of a 1-1 tie for an 11-6, 3-11, 11-9, 12-10 victory.
However, Colby came roaring back with five straight victories to clinch the match. After falling behind, #5 Jack Vanderhorst earned the Mules' first win by 10-12, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 scores against freshman Vivaan Jaikishan. Colby's Alex Spafford took a back-and-forth second match over Jumbo senior co-captain Raghav Kumar 10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8 making it a 3-2 score. Another five-setter went to Colby as Duda Voldman won the ninth match over senior Connor Wind 11-13, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8, 11-4 evening the match at 3-3.
The Mules surged ahead 4-3 with the only three-set match of the evening in the fourth postion, won by Alexander Kurtin over sophomore Konrad LaDow 11-5, 11-4, 11-6. Ryan Santoro clinched the team win for Colby in the eight spot with an 11-8, 9-11, 11-2, 12-10 victory against Tufts junior co-captain Salik Awan.
Tufts freshman Kunal Valia won the #1 match over Dylan Tymkiw 11-2, 2-11, 12-10, 3-11, 11-8 to narrow the final match score to 5-4.
A win over Amherst on Sunday would give Tufts its best final ranking since 2010.
