PHILADELPHIA - Tufts University's Vivaan Jaikishan (pictured) won the #5 match to clinch a dramatic 5-4 victory for the Jumbo men's squash team over St. Lawrence University on Saturday night in the Summers Cup semifinals at the College Squash Association (CSA) National Team Championships.
The Jumbos (8-6) will now play in the Summers Cup final on Sunday against Navy, itself a dramatic 5-4 winner in the Summers semis versus Amherst on Saturday. Sunday's championship match is set to begin at 2:30 PM.
Tufts led today's match against St. Lawrence 4-2 heading into the final three matches. However, the Saints won at #3 and #7 to tie the team score at 4-4. Facing Vladimir Iglesias, Tufts' Jaikishan lost the first game before rallying to win 10-12, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 for the Jumbos' fifth victory.
Tufts' Sanjeev Jeyabalan had a huge victory in the fourth match, where he fended off multiple match points for his opponent to win 11-8, 5-11, 11-6, 5-11, 14-12. That put the Jumbos up 4-2.
Starting with a quick 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 win by Dillon O'Shea in the eighth spot, Tufts won two of the first three. Marco Rodriguez earned a #6 win after being down a game 4-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-1. SLU's Nathan Mead won the second match 11-5, 11-4, 11-3.
Lewis Anderson took the #1 contest 11-7, 11-9, 11-5 to tie the team score at 2-2. However, Tufts' Konrad LaDow came from down a game in the ninth match to win 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9, and then Jeyabalan had his tremendous win to give Tufts a 4-2 advantage.
St. Lawrence hung tough, with Alejandro Moncada earning a hard-fought 14-12, 13-11, 7-11, 11-8 win at #3 to make it a 4-3 match. Then James Barrow went five to win 11-8, 5-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7 in the seventh match to tie the score at 4-4.
With a berth into the Summers championship match, the Jumbos have already matched their best performance at the CSA Team Nationals since 2008 when they lost in the Summers Cup final. A win tomorrow would mark the team's best showing nationally since 2006.
