No. 5 Men's Squash to Face Princeton in Quarterfinals of CSA Team Championships

Pictured: Senior Alex Lavoie has a 4-4 overall record this season.
Photo courtesy: Gil Talbot Photography

CSA Championships Bracket

The Particulars:
After finishing 4-2 in the Ivy League and 5-4 overall, the fifth-ranked Harvard men’s squash team will face No. 4 Princeton in the quarterfinal round of the College Squash Association Team Championships Friday. The Tigers are 10-2 overall and were 5-1 in the Ivy League.

Harvard has won 31 CSA team national championships in its storied history, with the last one coming in 1998. The Crimson finished third in the Ivy League standings this season and placed fourth at the CSA Championships last year.

The Bracket:
Harvard, the No. 5 seed, will play fourth-seeded Princeton in the opening round, with the winner advancing to play either No. 1 Trinity or No. 8 Western Ontario in the semifinal round Saturday. Other quarterfinal matchups include No. 3 Rochester against No. 6 Cornell and No. 2 Yale taking on No. 7 Dartmouth.

Last Time Out:
Colin West concluded the regular season with an 8-1 record at the No. 1 slot, as he grabbed the Crimson’s lone victory in an 8-1 loss at No. 2 Yale Feb. 13.

About Harvard:
The Crimson owns a 5-4 record coming into the CSA tournament, having defeated Brown, Williams, Dartmouth, Cornell and Penn during the regular season. Colin West leads the team in victories with eight at the No. 1 position, while Richard Hill stands at 5-4 at the No. 2 spot, Jason Michas is 5-2 at the No. 5 slot and Alexander Ma owns a 4-3 record at the No. 9 position.

About Princeton:
The Tigers have won four of their last five matches entering Friday, with the lone loss coming at No. 1 Trinity, 9-0. In Ivy League action, Princeton has topped Cornell, Brown, Penn, Dartmouth and Harvard and only lost to conference champion Yale by a slim, 5-4, margin.

Last Time Against Princeton:
The Crimson and Tigers met Feb. 7 at the Barnaby Courts. Princeton earned a 7-2 victory, with the lone Harvard wins coming at the No. 1 slot by Colin West and at the No. 2 position by Richard Hill.

Last Season at CSA Championships:
Harvard defeated Cornell, 5-4, in the opening round of the 2009 CSA Team Championships, before falling to eventual national champion Trinity, 9-0, and Rochester, 7-2, in the third-place match. The Crimson placed fourth in the tournament, which was hosted by Princeton.

It's Been a Great Run:
Harvard’s three seniors—Colin West, Alex Lavoie and Franklin Cohen—have combined for 59 career individual victories and helped the Crimson win 26 matches over the past four seasons.