HARTFORD, CT (February 9, 2025) -- The Tufts University men's squash squad avenged an prior loss to Williams College Sunday in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) semifinals with a 5-4 win, falling in the NESCAC finals to host Trinity College 8-1 in play from the Kellner Squash Courts.
For Tufts, it was the second straight trip to the NESCAC finals, its only two appearances in the title match. Trinity earned its 18th NESCAC title, as the ony squad to ever win the championship since the NESCAC Championships were started in 2007.
In the NESCAC semifinals, Tufts had to rally multiple times as
Aarav Gill picked up a four-game win over Nick Agger at No. 2 with scores of 11-9, 4-11, 11-9 and 11-3 to even the match at 1-1. Williams won the next two matches to make it 3-1, but first-year
Ali Tarek rolled at No. 9 for the Jumbos to make it 3-2 after an 11-5, 11-7, 11-5 win over Rafay Syed.
Sophomore
Rutva Samant helped start the rally, as he earned a three-game win over William Newton 11-4, 11-9 and 11-9 to even the match at 3-3.
Tufts took a 4-3 match edge thanks to a gutty effort from sophomore No. 1
Nachiket Desai, who knocked off Andrew Minnis 11-8, 11-5 and 11-9. The winning point would come at No. 4 for the second straight day, as junior
Jared Chin topped Asher Leavy 12-10, 11-13, 11-6 and 11-3 to send the Jumbos to the championship round against Trinity.
In the NESCAC finals, Tufts took a match off of the Bantams in the finals for the first time since 2022 as
Rohan Bhatia knocked off Andrew Kovas 11-4, 11-4 and 11-8 at No. 9.
At No. 3,
Kerwin Teh showed some a ton of fight in what would be his final NESCAC Tournament match as he fell in five games to Wa-Sern Low 5-11, 11-6, 11-4, 5-11 and 12-10.
Sophomore
Emerson Wang also pushed Utkarsh Baheti at No. 8 before retiring down 13-11, 12-10, 8-7. Gill battled Mateo Restrepo at No. 2 with a close score line of 11-9, 12-10 and 11-8, and
Shivin Kumar also tested Marwan El Borolossey at No. 6 12-10, 11-6 and 11-9.
The Jumbos will now wait and see where they will be seeded in the College Squash Association Team Championships, hosted in Philadelphia at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center March 6-9, 2025.
--JUMBOS--
