The men’s squash team captured a 6-3 victory against Connecticut College this weekend at the Wesleyan invitational. They fell, however, to Colby and George Washington University to post a 1-2 overall record for the weekend.
“We knew this was a big weekend, where we could go 3-0 just as easily as we could go 0-3,” said Benjie Messinger-Barnes ’09.
The first match was on Friday, against Colby.
“[It] was extremely hard fought, but we fell short by a 6-3 margin, losing three five-game matches,” Messinger-Barnes said.
Each squash match is a collection of one-on-one competitions. Each competition is a best-of-five game, with each game being won by the player to first reach nine points. A player can only win points on their own serve.
“If a game gets to 8-8, the first player to 8 chooses whether to play to 9 or 10,” said JZ Golden ’08. “Calling nine is a very risky choice, because it gives the opponent a chance to serve for the game.”
To determine which players will compete, and in what order, every team has a ladder.
“[The ladder] is numbered one through ten, with one being the best player,” Golden said. “The top nine count. Each player plays his counterpart form the opposing school, in a match.”
Thus, Wesleyan’s number one, Robert Broadfoot ’10, would play Colby’s number one.
Unfortunately, Wesleyan lost three matches 2-3 against Colby.
“That left a sour taste in our mouths, so we came out Saturday and took it to Conn 6-3,” Messinger-Barnes said.
“This was a huge win for the team, as we were certainly an underdog,” he said.
Wesleyan couldn’t maintain its momentum going into Sunday’s early morning matchup against George Washington, however, and fell 7-2. They failed to get a win out of any of their last six spots on the ladder.
Messinger-Barnes noted the improvement he saw on George Washington’s part.
“Last year…we took them handily,” he said.
The team looks to rebound and improve on its shaky 2-3 start Dec. 5 against Vassar.
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