No. 5 Men's Squash Finishes Fifth at CSA Championships, Tops No. 6 Cornell, 7-2

Pictured: William Ahmed is 5-7 overall in his freshman season.
Photo courtesy: Gil Talbot Photography

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Led by seniors Colin West and Franklin Cohen, the fifth-ranked Harvard men's squash team grabbed a 7-2 win over No. 6 Cornell in the consolation final of the College Squash Association national men's team championships, With the victory, Harvard, which finishes the year 7-5 overall, places fifth at the CSA tournament.

At the No. 1 slot, West, who improves to 11-1 at the top position this season, quickly defeated his counterpart, Alex Domenick, 3-0 (11-4, 11-4, 11-6).  Cohen was one of four Crimson players to edge their opponents, 3-2, as he topped Christopher Vernick at the No. 7 spot.  Cohen won the first two games, 11-7 and 12-10, before Vernick tied the match, 2-2, with 11-7 and 11-9 showings in sets three and fourt.  Cohen came back to win the fifth game, 11-8, and take the match.

Richard Hill battled Christopher Sachvie to a five-game showdown at the No. 2 slot. Hill, who won game one, 14-12, lost the next two to Sachvie, 11-7 and 12-10.  Hill rebounded in game four, 11-5, before completed the win in game five, 11-8.  At the No. 4 position, J. Reed Endresen faced Thomas Spettigue, claiming games 1, 3 and 5 to clinch the match (11-4, 6-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-5). Jason Michas also had a close match at the No. 5 slot, as he outplayed David Hilton, 3-2 (11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-5).

William Ahmed and Alexander Ma also collected victories for the Crimson.  Ahmed dropped his first game to W. McKay Cloghorn at the No. 8 position before rattling off three straight wins to take the match (12-10, 11-9, 11-9).  Ma earned three straight 11-8 wins to complete a 3-0 victory against Owen Butler at the No. 9 position.

Harvard will now prepare for the CSA Individual Championships, which will be held in Hartford, Conn., March 5-7.

Complete Results
No. 5 Harvard 7, No. 6 Cornell 2
No. 1 Colin West (H) def. Alex Domenick (C) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-6
No. 2 Richard Hill (H) def. Christopher Sachvie (C) 3-2: 14-12, 7-11, 10-12, 11-5, 11-8
No. 3 Amar Gupta (C) def. Zeke Scherl (H) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-3
No. 4 J. Reed Endresen (H) def. Thomas Spettigue (C) 3-2: 11-4, 6-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-5
No. 5 Jason Michas (H) def. David Hilton (C) 3-2: 11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-5
No. 6 Rishi Jalan (C) def. Eliot Buchanan (H) 3-1: 11-9, 10-12, 11-7, 11-4
No. 7 Franklin Cohen (H) def. Christopher Vernick (C) 3-2: 11-7, 12-10, 7-11, 9-11, 11-8
No. 8 William Ahmed (H) def. W. McKay Claghorn (C) 3-1: 7-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9
No. 9 Alexander Ma (H) def. Owen Butler (C) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-8