In its first competition of the spring semester, the men’s squash team dismantled a talented but undisciplined Vassar squad, winning every match for a 9-0 sweep. With the win, the Cardinals evened their record to 5-5. The victory was especially satisfying because the team had been handed three straight defeats at the resolution of its short inter-term season.
“For the past couple of weeks, the team has been plagued with illness and injury,” said co-captain Andrew Rozas ’06. “After losing to Rochester a couple of weeks ago, I think the team wanted to win this [match] badly.”
Coach David Tedeschi was vert satisfied with the victory, despite the fact that Wesleyan had been ranked above the winless Vassar Brewers entering the match.
“While I was not surprised that we won, I was surprised by how well we played in winning all nine of our matches,” he said.
In the first round of games, three matches quickly went the Cardinals’ way. Dylan Rau ’07, Ian Carbone ’06 and Tan Chantaralawan ’05 took care of their opponents in straight sets, giving the men a quick 3-0 advantage.
At the same time, two of the more competitive matches of the day were taking place between the number two and six seeds. In each game of the number two seed, Rozas fell behind early to the challenger, but subsequently mounted comebacks.
“I have been injured for the past week, so I adopted a patient style of play,” Rozas explained. “I intentionally slowed the pace of the game down to minimize the risk of re-injuring myself, and my opponent was not putting me under immediate pressure, so the points were able to go on for longer.”
This battle of attrition finally ended with Rozas taking away a 9-6, 9-7, 9-6 victory.
Meanwhile, on court four, fellow co-captain Umay Suanda ’05 was fighting off a comeback from his opponent. After winning the first game and sweeping the second, it had appeared that Suanda would have an easy time capturing the fifth and match clinching point. His opponent, however, battled back to force a deciding fifth game. In the final frame, Suanda caught a second wind and easily put away the match with a score of 9-6, 9-0, 2-9, 7-9, 9-1.
“Umay showed a lot of resolve coming back to win the fifth set after dropping the third and fourth,” Tedeschi said.
The contest between the two six seeds took so long that by the time it had wrapped up, the overall match had already been decided by Phil Wallach ’05, who disposed his opponent in the seventh position 9-0, 9-8, 9-4.
With nothing left to play for except personal pride, the remaining Cardinals still kept the Brewers’ side of the score sheet empty as Andy Aylward ’07, Evan Lodge ’08 and Omair Sarwar ’05 completed the sweep.
While Aylward and Lodge easily dispatched their opponents, Sarwar was taken to a fourth game by his five seed opponent before triumphing 9-4, 10-8, 0-9, 9-7.
“Omair Sarwar, who was the last to finish, played hard to the end,” Rozas said. “He too has been injured, and it was amazing to see him stick out the pain to win his match.”
Though the victory was satisfying for the Cardinals, it was fairly noticeable that their competition was outclassed. Many matches featured Brewers standing in shot paths, taking unnecessary lets that resulted in Cardinal points and making routine errors.
“Vassar is a skilled team, but squash is a game of seeding,” Tedeschi explained. “A team needs a strong number one player that lets everyone to move down a level. At this point, they are missing that one player that could catapult them into contention.”
Despite the easy victory, assistant coach Geoff Wheeler noted that some matches were extended beyond what they should have been because of Vassar’s lack of fundamentals.
“Some [Cardinals] played lackadaisically because their opponents did not challenge them enough,” he said.
Wesleyan’s next opponent, Connecticut College, will not afford the squad a chance to take things easy. Ranked #17 in the latest College Squash Association listing, the Connecticut College Camels will provide a challenge for the Cardinals, ranked #27.
“The team knows it won [against Vassar] because it took the match seriously,” Rozas said. “So I think when we play Conn., which is also an important match, the win against Vassar will serve to demonstrate that the desire to win can help produce the desired outcome.”
In the Smith/Mount Holyoke Invitational, the women’s squash team went 1-2. Its lone victory came in a dramatic 5-4 battle with Haverford. After seven matches were completed, the Cardinals led the Fords 4-3. In the eighth position, Christine Spear ’08 took her match to a fifth set before losing 7-9. With the overall match now tied, attention turned to the final contest, where Maddie Rottman ’08 was playing the Haverford five seed. Also playing into the fifth set, Rottman was able to battle back to win the final game 9-7.
“Maddie picked up the game just this year and she showed great resolve in winning her match,” Tedeschi said.
Despite playing in the deciding match, Rottman was oblivious to the circumstances.
“I had no idea that we were tied 4-4 in matches,” she said. “If I had known that we were tied, I would have felt much more pressure so I probably wouldn’t have played as well. I’d say it was a good decision on my team’s part not to tell me.”
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