Harvard squeezes past the Yellowjackets
December 14th, 2008 Mithun Mukherjee posted in College Squash, Events, General
On the heels of their 8-1 victory over Dartmouth two days ago, the Yellowjackets paid the Harvard Crimson a visit this Saturday. In a closely contested battle, the Yellowjackets held the advantage at 4-3 but eventually succumbed 4-5 to Harvard’s home court advantage. The Yellowjackets are now 4-1 in the season.
1. Colin West (H) def. Jim Bristow (R) 3-0: 9-0, 9-0, 9-5
2. Verdi DiSesa (H) def. Hameed Ahmed 3-2: 3-9, 3-7, 9-5, 10-8, 9-4
3. Niko Hrdy (H) beat Fred Reid (R) 3-2: 9-6, 9-5, 8-10, 8-9, 9-4
4. Will Newmham (R) def. Richard Hill (H) 3-0: 10-8, 9-6, 9-3
5. Matt Domenick (R) def. Franklin Cohen (H) 3-0: 9-5, 9-0, 9-1
6. J. Reed Endresen (H) def. Joe Chapman (R) 3-1: 9-6, 9-4, 0-9, 9-6
7. Adam Perkiomaki (R) def. Alex Lavoie (H) 3-0: 9-3, 9-2, 9-4
8. Yohay Wakabayshi (R) def. Alastair Smith (H) 3-2: 7-9, 2-9, 9-7, 9-5, 9-3
9. William Ahmed (H) def. Edwin Goncharuk (R) 3-0: 9-3, 9-1, 9-3
Every once in a while you see a sporting event that is so hard fought and so well played that at some point it occurs to you that you are just lucky to be watching it. That was the case in the Harvard/ Rochester match December 13 at Harvard’s Barnaby Courts. The College Squash Association’s fourth and fifth ranked teams displayed why they sit near the top of the field, and why they are ranked so closely together. When the dust cleared, Harvard, playing after a shockingly convincing loss to Cornell, had come through a crucial test, and Rochester had discovered how challenging it is to dent the record of tho top five CSA teams, especially when meeting them on their home courts.
Read the excellent match report by Kirsten Carlson @ SquashTalk. Also a highlight - the announcement of Bennie Fischer, incoming freshman from Switzerland, who will be joining the squad in January for the rest of the season and adding further depth to the lineup.
The College Squash Association (CSA) has high expectations from the Yellowjackets this year, ranking them #5 in the pre-season rankings which were released this week. The Yellowjackets finished last season at #10 and have enjoyed a strong recruiting season this year, evident from the stellar new recruits on display at 
“…Prior to college, Fitzsimmons never played squash. He arrived at the University of Rochester as a tennis player. During his first year, many members of the Yellowjackets’ varsity squash team graduated. During his sophomore year, Fitzsimmons, along with a few other tennis players, joined the squash team. Squash quickly became his passion. Within a year he was at the top of the varsity ladder, a spot he would occupy for three seasons.
